Neko onna
by Chisu-chan
Summary: After Enishi, Kenshin kept her overprotected and Kaoru felt weak. That changed after an encounter with death and a cat. a merge between Rurouni Kenshin and the idea of catwoman. also thank Marie Nomad for the good summary!
1. The beginning

**The Beginning**

_My life story always had some sort of turmoil in it. From the death of my mother then father, to almost losing my home to the person I loved leaving me, almost twice. But the story I'm about to tell you is something I never would have thought I would have to face. And through most of this plight, I would be alone. The night I died would be the most life changing experience ever. The obituary would have read about a loving dojo caretaker, a forgiving friend and strict sensei. But there would be no obituary. For the night I died I was reborn into a stronger being. With whole new freedom no one could ever have imagined. But let's not start off at my death. First, we look back a few days before hand at my old life._

The light bounced of the hair of a dark-haired, pony tailed woman as she stormed out of the new dojo across town from her own. Kaoru had come all the way from her own dojo to try and make friends with the newest Dojo master. But instead of treating her with respect as a kendo master, that spat at her. They insulted her family's honor and her own confidence then to end it off, kicked her out of their dojo. She would have dealt with it in a calm and fashionable manner if she had been kicked out for any other reason. But to insult her practice just because she was a woman infuriated her. They had even the nerve to break her wooden sword. But she hadn't fought back. How could she, she was surrounded by at least ten armed men. If she knew their kind, she knew that they wouldn't have held back just because she was a woman. She walked past the Akabeko without saying hello to Tae and Tsubame like she usually did. She walked into the open market place and looked around. Her confidence had been somewhat put to the boot. She suddenly felt intimidated by the crowds of people that hovered about here and there. She turn around and was about to walk down the path by the river when she heard her name being called.

"Kaoru-dono?" She turned around and smiled when she saw a red haired man walking up to her. He was carrying a bucket of tofu and another bucket of rice. She blushed a tiny bit as he smiled back at her. She lifted the rice bucket from one of his hands to help him out. "What are you doing in the market place? You usually send me to do this chore, that you do."

"Aww Kenshin, you don't have to worry about me. I had planned to visit the new dojo in town but…" She paused in uncertainty. She argued with herself whether she should tell him or not. He would probably get pretty mad if he knew what they had done to her. Ever since the Enishi incident he had become almost overly protective of her and the dojo.

"But what, Kaoru-dono?"

"But I decided not to. You know that I've been getting a lot more students coming in and out now. I decided to leave this new place alone. They probably would get aggravated with strangers coming to their dojo everyday." She smiled at her well told lie and began walking back to the dojo. Kenshin looked at her from behind with uncertainty before catching up to the side of her. She usually wouldn't care what other people would think but he guessed it was her affair what she did with her sword fighting career. Kenshin walked ahead and opened the dojo gates when they had returned. One minute they had walked in together, the next Megumi was there taking the tofu from Kenshin, or ken-san as she called him. Kaoru took a deep breath in to yell at her but reconsidered and kept walking, ignoring the two flirting. The two watched her walk away in amazement.

"That's odd. Tanuki usual gets so mad at us for doing this." Megumi gave a hearty laugh with her mouth covered. "She's finally realizing that she has no chance at beating me. She's giving up the battle, leaving handsome sir ken to me.

"Megumi-san there is nothing to battle over. My feelings for you are not mutual. You're just a friend." He took Megumi's hands from around his neck and took the tofu back from her.

"Oh I know sir ken. I'm only giving the tanuki girl a bit of healthy competition."

"Well maybe you need to calm down a bit. It must get tiring for kaoru-dono to have to see that everyday." Megumi raised her eyebrow as she watched Kenshin walk toward the kitchen and Kaoru. She sighed and shook her head. She turned when she heard a slight mewing sound coming from behind. She noticed a glimpse of the new stray cat before it disappeared. She looked back towards the kitchen.

"When will you two get some courage and confess already."

"Kaoru-dono…"Kenshin walked into the kitchen and was immediately worried again. Kaoru was sitting on a bucket, her knees tucked up tight against her body her head between her arms. Her body shook a little, indicating that she was trying to suppress her tears. Kenshin looked down to the ground as he put the tofu on the counter then came beside her. "Kaoru-dono, you know that what Megumi does to me I shrug away with no thought. This one doesn't like her. Megumi does this to get you flustered." Kaoru gave a little hiccup and looked up at Kenshin with puffy eyes. "And by the looks of it, it worked pretty well don't you think."

"I'm fine Kenshin, really. I just stubbed my toe when I came in her all mad, that's all." She stood up and brushed off her lap. Kenshin sighed and stood up with her. They started preparing the rice and tofu for that night's dinner. She put the rice in with water and got the fir underneath to a good size. Later in the day, Kaoru had gone to the dojo and Kenshin went out to the garden to pick the vegetables. He looked up from pulling to see her and Yahiko giving full thrusts into the open air. He stopped what he was doing to gaze at the sight. Her black hair moved with the wind but also her body as she thrusted into the air again and again.

"That's not right Yahiko!" She swung down, hitting her apprentice over the head. He growled and just swung his shinai harder. She took a deep breath, turning around while wiping the sweat off her face with a towel around her neck. She looked up to find Kenshin's hands completely tranquil while his eyes and other senses were focused only on her. He realized this one minute to late and flustered as he went back to doing laundry. She blushed a deep red and looked down at her feet shyly. She turned around and whacked Yahiko over the head again, without a reason this time around.

"Hey Kaoru! What was that for?!" He turned his head sharply around to stare at the vacant expression of his sensei's face. He gave her a weird look before waving his hand in her face. He noticed didn't notice strange looking cat that she was staring at. "Hey are you even paying attention to me?"

"Uh uh…"She shook her head no, again not really paying attention to him. The cat sitting by the door had her full attention. Kenshin looked up from doing laundry to see what was going on but by then the cat had vanished, leaving a silent Kaoru staring out the door.

"Kaoru-dono, are you ok?" She snapped out of her stupor by his voice. She turned around and gave a feeble smile at him before turning back around to Yahiko. She glanced up at the door before shaking her head with frustration and walked backed to the dojo hall to put up her bokken. "Kaoru-dono, would you like me to fix her bath for you?"

"Ahh…hai. That sounds wonderful Kenshin. Thanks." She walked off to her room after putting her bokken away. Kenshin watched as she turned around the corner then finished his article of clothing. He got up and brushed the suds away from his hakama then turned to Yahiko.

"Yahiko, could you hang the clothes for me? This one has to go start kaoru-dono's bath." He walked off toward the bathroom, leaving Yahiko cursing about his swing practice. Kenshin got some of the wood he chopped yesterday and threw it into the fire pit. After starting the fire, he looked up at the evening sky. "This one hopes Sano doesn't come back tonight."

* * *

Not only had Sano come back that night, he had also brought his friends. Kaoru tossed in her futon, her pillow trying to block out the sound. After a few more minutes of no sleep, she threw back the covers and stumbled out the futon and went threw the shoji doors. She snuck past the door of her obnoxious student; his snores could barely be heard of the boisterous friends of Sano. She heard Kenshin grumbling behind his doors and knew that he probably couldn't hear her. She finally got to the dojo hall and peers around the corner to find Sano and his friends drinking even more sake. She got up her nerve before sliding the door back a bit more and showing herself to the men.

"Eh…Jou-chan? Come have a drink with us!!" Sano held up his Sake cup and laughed at the bewildered expression of Kaoru. His other friends looked Kaoru over before snickering to each other and pointing to certain parts. She kicked at something imaginary at the ground before coming forward a bit more.

"Sano…?" She tried to get his attention but he went back to his sake and friends. "Sano…I thought maybe you could just…be a little bit quieter…"

"Ah come on woman. You just need to get a life. Why would you want to sleep for when you could be with us?" His friend stumbled over to her and put his arm around her shoulder. She tried to push his arm off but, in his drunken state of mind, he forced her even more. "Come on, you stupid wench. We'll give you a good time tonight."

"Oi…stop it. Sano, tell your friend to get off." She pushed the guys head away from hers so she could breathe freely. Sano didn't move though and she became even more aggravated at them. When she felt his hand go someplace it really shouldn't have, she let out a screech. She heard some one run behind her.

"Please let kaoru-dono go." Both she and the drunken friend turn their heads towards Kenshin's voice. He stood there with his yakuta half open and his red hair spilling over his shoulders. The guy let her go with a ruff grunt. She hurried over to Kenshin and felt his hands on her shoulders as she passed him. "Don't worry. I'll talk to them, you go back to sleep."

"Thanks Kenshin." She left the room as Kenshin slid the shoji doors behind her. She stood behind the door as Kenshin started to talk to the men. After a few minutes she left them to go back to her room. Yahiko apparently had heard the noise and had come out to the porch.

"What's going on? Did Sano come again tonight?" She nodded. Yahiko sighed and went back into his room, closing the doors behind him. She went back to her room as well and got back into her futon. She fixed the blankets around her and was about to lay back down when she heard a small tap at her door. "W-who is it?"

"It's this one, Kaoru-dono. May I come in?" She light out a meek yes and he slid the door open and closed it a bit behind him. He went over to her to check up. "Are you ok? They didn't do anything did they?"

"No. They didn't do anything too bad. The guy just got too close and I let out a small yelp. I'm sorry if I woke you up Kenshin." He smiled without worries. She didn't tell him about the whole grouping deal with him. That would just make him mad and it would never end.

"This one couldn't sleep because of the noise. But they said they would quiet down." Kenshin looked at the door and whispered to her before he left. "And I made Sano promise not to bring his friends along next time."

"Thanks again Kenshin. People just don't seem to listen to women these days. Especially if those certain people are drunk." Kenshin smiled before going back out to the porch and closing the door behind her. She continued smiling until she knew he couldn't see her anymore then laid back down. She flipped over to her side and thought about the day's events before falling into a peaceful slumber.


	2. The meeting

**The Meeting**

The next day Kaoru woke up slowly with the sun. She was still tired but that was to be expected. Though Sano's friends had quieted down some, she could still hear them through the dojo. They had left a few hours ago waking her up one last time as they slammed the dojo gates behind them. She walked out and looked up into the cloudless morning sky. She heard some shift at the end of the porch and saw Kenshin coming out of his room

"Ohayoo Kaoru-dono. It certainly is a nice morning out."

"It sure is. Do you want help preparing the food this morning?"

"That would be most appreciated, that it would." Kenshin walked behind Kaoru as they walked to the kitchen. She was given one of the simple chore of cutting the vegetables as he started the fire. After a few minutes Kenshin started the rice and looked up from his crouching position. "You seem in a good mood today, Kaoru-dono."

"Despite the fact that I got so little sleep last night, yes I am. We really must do something about Sano's tendencies to get drunk at night. Or at least tell him to stop coming here. He does have his own home in the row house."

"Yes but he knows that his friends are here. He probably gets lonely at night." Kenshin stopped what he was doing and thought to himself. Kaoru turned around and looked at Kenshin's back. She went back to cutting the vegetables slowly and finished.

"Are you lonely sometimes, Kenshin?"

"Not anymore. Not since I met you Kaoru-dono." She turned around as he turned his head and he smiled gently. She was giving him the best opportunity to ask what he had been planning for weeks. "Kaoru-dono, sessha was wondering if you would go out to dinner with me sometime?"

"Uh...dinner?" kaoru looked to see Kenshin's face all blushed. In response, her face got just as red as his. She turned around and smiled outwardly, not being able to contain it anymore. "That sounds wonderful. When do you plan on going?"

"We could go tomorrow if you want. We could go to the Akabeko." Kaoru suddenly laughed at the thought of Tae's expression. That woman had been pushing them to go out since she first met him. She would be ecstatic to see them going out. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, I was just thinking of what Tae-san's reaction would be." Kenshin gave his famous rurouni grin.

"This one thinks a small heart attack should suffice. It shouldn't be too bad if she's been waiting for…" He coughed and turned around to take the rice off the fire. Kaoru laughed inside. This was the first time she had seen this side of Kenshin. It was kind of adorable. After they were finally done with breakfast she heard Yahiko walk out of his room and look at the two. She wondered if they were both still beet red. If they were, Yahiko sure didn't notice.

"Augh, you let Kaoru make breakfast. You know, she can kill an elephant with her cooking." Kaoru's mood went from happy to pissed in a couple of seconds. The next thing Yahiko knew, he had a bucket hurtling straight at his face. It connected and he fell out the kitchen door. Kenshin smiled while Kaoru stomped outside the door and her mysterious but handy bokken appeared out of no where.

"Yahiko-chan, you need more respect for you sensei."

"What?! Why should I respect you, busu!?" Kaoru let out a screech and chased after him, leaving Kenshin to make the rest of the breakfast. Right when she caught up to him and was about to give him the beating he deserved Kenshin walked in.

"Maa maa, you two should calm down. Breakfast is ready." Kaoru gave one good smack upside Yahiko's head before taking her seat beside Kenshin. Yahiko grumbled as he sat down and took a couple of rice balls. Kaoru and Kenshin did the same and they started eating in silence. Yahiko finished first and went outside to begin his daily regiment of 100 swings. After the two of them finished, Kenshin took the dishes and walked back toward the kitchen while Kaoru walked back over to Yahiko.

Kenshin walked out to see the newest training. He dried is hands on his hakama and sat down as Kaoru faced Yahiko in a practice duel. Since she had already taught him the hawatari blade crossing, she had nothing left for him except practice. Yahiko, still mad from the bucket, lunged after her. She rounded him and gave him a quick beating to the back. She smirked whilst he came at her again. After a few minutes both were dripping with sweat. Kaoru called it quits and went to sit by Kenshin. He handed her a towel and she wiped of the sweat on her brow.

"You and Yahiko are getting better ever time I see you two duel. I guess I can only expect Yahiko to succeed my skills someday, the way he trains." Kenshin laughed and blew it off.

"He better learn some restraint before he exceeds anyone. Add some manners to that list." He laughed again and the two of them stood as Yahiko practiced some more by himself. Suddenly there was a loud knock at the gate and Kaoru and Kenshin looked at each other. Kaoru just shrugged and Kenshin went to go open the gates. When he opened them two men walked up wearing formal kendo robes.

"Hello, I've come from the newest dojo across own to make friends with the other dojo's. Are you the master of this dojo?"

"Uhhh….not this one sir."

"I'm the Kamiya dojo's assistant instructor at the moment. What may I help you with…oh." She stopped beside Kenshin to see Master Roku stop bowing and stand up displeased. Kenshin looked between the dojo masters, sensing the tension easily. A student beside Roku snorted and came marching up with his nose stuck high in the air

"You're that woman that tried to seduce us and "make friends". You make me laugh. This scrawny, pathetic dojo is actually yours. Makes sense…" Master Roku held out his hand toward his pupil. Kaoru just looked down when Kenshin gave her a look. She would argue against them but she didn't need another dojo added to her rival list.

"My apprentice is right. This place is run down. I'm surprised you haven't been bought off already. I don't suppose you're married either, like most women your age would be considering." Kenshin gave a glare at the man, his ki direct at him to back down. The man's eyes twitched then darted towards Kenshin. "I see. At least you have a true swordsman keeping you in line. Wait…you look familiar."

"Yeah, sessha gets that a lot." Roku tilted his head to the side as he thought and then his eyes widened in fear, or so it seemed.

"Red hair…it couldn't be?" Kenshin's eyebrows rose in a daring motion and Roku stiffened. The apprentice looked at Roku then back at Kenshin.

"Hey show some respect you…" He was cut off yet again by his master who was so shaken up his arms were on edge. He motioned for them to leave. He stopped in front of Kaoru and spat on the ground in front of her.

"I won't forget this Kamiya-san." The two walked off leaving a stunned Kenshin and a very silent Kaoru. Kenshin closed the gates then turned towards kaoru. She smiled slightly to break the unease then walked back toward the dojo. Yahiko had stopped and saw the whole thing.

"Jeez Kaoru. Why didn't you fight back? You would usual hit a guy who talked to you like that.

"I didn't want to be bothered by Master Roku, that's all. If I had shown him my discomfort he would have just gone even further. Now if you don't mind I need to get changed and take a walk." She stormed off like her usual self. Kenshin walked over to Yahiko and shrugged. Kaoru walked into her room and pulled out her favorite yellow kimono and began to undress from her kendo outfit. She stood in front of the mirror and looked herself over. He hands were rough for all the years of kendo but the rest of her body was smooth and had a nice curve to it. To bad she was to self conscious too show off any of the good features. She sighed and slipped into her Kimono.

Kenshin looked up from his laundry to see Kaoru walk out and towards the front gate. He dropped the laundry back into the water and stood up. He ran over to her while drying his hands in his hakama, getting them wet yet again. He reminded himself to get a towel to put beside the wash basin. Kaoru turned around and looked at Kenshin. He tilted his head.

"Are you going to be ok, Kaoru-dono?" she gave off a smile but it wasn't too happy. He still felt anger radiating off her.

"I just need to go out for a while. Maybe I'll go see Tae later. Maybe tell her we'll be stopping by tomorrow." Kaoru waved as she walked out the dojo gates. Kenshin watched as she disappeared out of sight then went back to the laundry.

* * *

Kaoru walked down the path past her dojo walls. She looked up into the sky, the flowers were in bloom and the petals were getting everywhere. She stopped at their favorite place by the river and sat down. She began thinking back to when her father had first started teaching her Kamiya Kasshin-Ryu. She had been so proud to hold the bokken in her hand. Now she felt almost ashamed that she even laid her hands on one. She couldn't defend her dojo's honor from everyone in Tokyo. She sighed and got back up after a few more minutes.

She began walking toward the Akabeko using the back alleys when suddenly she saw something dart out in the corner of her eye. She turned around to be face with the cat from earlier. She looked around to see if there was a near by residential area but found none. She pouted then looked back to where the cat was but didn't find him. He vanished. She took a couple of steps toward the area and heard meowing behind her. She whipped around to find the cat up on the skinniest ledge possible. It meowed at her again and she gaped.

"Here kitty…"She made puckering noises and raises her hand. The cat just tilted his head and meowed again, it's neck stretching out as if it looked like it was about to jump." Oh you're not stuck are you? Stupid cat."

Kaoru looked around until she found a bunch of crates stacked onto of one another. She fixed her kimono and began climbing the boxes carefully. One of them wobbled and she grabbed hold of it and waited until it steadied itself again before going up closer. By the time she reached the top where the cat was she was out of breath. She looked over to coax the cat but he had disappeared. She let out a frustrated gasp and wobbled again.

She began to climb back down when she saw a strange lady turn around the corner holding something to her chest. Kaoru watched as two strange men followed after her. She turned her head and hurried up a little faster. Kaoru tried to make no noise but the boxes started moving again. They started tipping back wards and Kaoru let out a yell as she and the boxes fell right onto of the woman. The two men stopped and back up a bit as the two women tried to situate themselves. Kaoru noticed the item the woman had been holding to her chest laying across the alley. But before she could mention it, the woman got up.

"I'm really sorry about that. I didn't mean to interrupt your climbing session…" the woman look up puzzled. Kaoru laughed nervously and scratched her head. "What were you doing up there?"

"In all honesty, I was trying to get a cat. But by the time I got up there it seemed to have found a way down and left me up there." The two women laughed and the woman waived to the two men to relax. "Who are those two? You're body guards or something?"

"Yes." The woman looked toward them annoyingly and then sighed. "Apparently my husband doesn't trust me going out by myself alone."

"Men. They think they can just walk right over us women. It's so irritating." Kaoru fumed about Roku from earlier, though the woman didn't know that. The woman laughed at Kaoru's irritation with understanding. The woman held out her hand.

"My name's Akori. It was nice meeting you…uh?"

"My name's Kaoru. Kamiya Kaoru. I own the dojo just down a few blocks." The woman raised her eyebrow then laughed. "It was nice meeting you too."

"Well, Kamiya-san. I must really be going before my husband gets too suspicious." The woman walked off waving. By the time she had disappeared Kaoru remembered she had dropped the item in the first place. She walked up and picked up the scarf. There was a letter to it though she couldn't read the writing. But she could bring it to the address that was on the corner. But she wasn't so sure. She was still really embarrassed about the whole ordeal. By the time she got to Akabeko, the light had started to fade into the background. She decided that it was the right thing to do to bring it back.


	3. Death!

**Death!**

Kaoru sensed something was out of place but she couldn't figure out what. She knew she had to give the scarf back to that lady from earlier today but she lived in the dojo that had degraded her and her father. Yet here she was after dark because she felt bad about earlier. She took a deep breathe and knocked on the gates of the dojo. After a few minutes, she got impatient. She knew there was someone there because of the glowing emanating from over the walls. She decided that it would be best to leave the scarf inside sneakily and just leave. What they didn't know wouldn't hurt them.

She carefully pushed on the gate slowly and made it crack enough for her to be able to slip right into the open. She noticed the door was open to the main dojo and slipped inside, her usually clumsy feet gliding over the wooden floor. She placed the red scarf on the alter in the back of the dojo and walked back out onto the porch. She decided to go looking around the new dojo. She snuck as quietly as she could without anyone hearing her. There were three rooms in all, along with the dojo hall. She got to the room with the light on. That's when she heard some harsh, calm whispers from the next room. They sounded serious and maybe just a bit worried. She heard the chief's name and was soon suspicious of what they were talking about. She went to the cracked door and knelt beside it. There were at least three people in there that she could tell.

"We can't let the damn government know that we've been sneaking out information to other countries armies. But the chief of police in this town has caught on quickly."

"We are going to have to lie low for now. Don't do anything that could jeopardize this mission."

"But we need to get the rest of it to the reporter as quickly as possible or else they will become irritated again." Kaoru listened intently as they spoilt their plans to her without knowing. She couldn't believe her ears. She had wanted to make friends with this dojo. To know that they were up to evil and no good made her feel nauseous. She shifted but remembered to late that they didn't know about her. The floor boards squeaked under her weight. "What was that?!"

"Someone's out side our door!" The door was thrown back before kaoru could recover herself fully. She stared at the two menacing guys with shock and fear before making a dash for it toward the doors.

"What do we do?"

"I can't have this information leaking out. Kill her and don't let anyone find out."

"Yes Madame!" They ran out quickly and quickly caught up to the kimono bound kaoru. She turned around and let out a struggled gasp. The last thing she saw was the shadow coming out of the door and couldn't believe her eyes. The guy swung his hard wooden bokken straight at her head. The impact was so hard that it cracked her skull completely open causing severe damage and killing her instantly. She dropped to the feet of the two men, her black hair spilled over the ground and a drop of blood rolling from her mouth down her check to her chin and the rest coming from the huge wound on her head. Her blank, now lifeless eyes were still starring up at her killers.

"Aww shit. It's the dojo master of that dojo on the other side of town. That red haired rurouni lives at her dojo."

"Master Roku once told me that he was the legendary manslayer. What if he does find out? The government will be the least of our worries if he comes after us for revenge."

"We have to hide the evidence that we did it before he finds out and kills us all."

"Take her body to the swamps. They'll never be able to find her there. And once they do, the environment will have rotted away all evidence that we're the murderers." The two men looked at each other before taking either side of Kaoru's corpse. They wrapped her with a dirty, loose sheet then headed over to the swamp behind their house. They slid her body out of the sheet, watching as the corpse slid down into the mud. As she slid down, her hair, face and body getting covered in green, slimy mud and the water around her mixed with her blood turning it into a rust color around her face. Her eyes still open as her murderers laughed once more before turning around and walking back to their house.

Her body laid there for hours. Just before the sun came up her body was found. But not by any person but the stray cat that had been strolling through her neighborhood as if stalking her. The cat walked over gently to Kaoru's still body and sat at her feet for a moment as it mewed sadly. Then it walked gingerly over her body and looked her straight into the face. A moment past as the cat breathed in and out of her mouth then soundly her body gave out a strangled cry. The pupils of Kaoru's eyes sat there dormant until something, by no means a miracle, started to happen to her. The pupils dilated then quickly turn into little slits. By the time her sight came back the cat had gone. She sat up as if it were the first time of her life and gave out another strangled hack. Mud flew from her mouth as she coughed it up from her lungs. She heard something in the distance, like birds but not. She looked over to the forest, sliding onto her knees, ruining her kimono even more. She cried out as her eyes saw something go after her face. She put her hands over her brow and looked down. She saw the worms that were underneath her wriggling and squirming. Her hands went down, clawing at the mud in curiosity and fear. She tilted her head strangely as she investigated the new senses she had received. She looked around again before trying to stand; again it was like she had never walked before in her life. She stumbled around lost in the swamp before seeing a cleared space up an embankment. She took a few steps, struggling up the hill, sliding and tripping before she got to the road. As she reached the gravel the sun came up and glared into her face. She winced away quickly then squinted down the road and began her journey back. She began to run.

She walked toward the dojo with a cat like grace and looked up the wall. Her heart wanted to go over and into her room. But she had lost the key. Before she knew it, she was on her hands and feet then jumped. It lifted her off the ground and landed her on the top of the wall. She walked agilely across the roof of the wall until she got to the opposite side of where her room was. She dropped down just a gracefully as she had gotten up there and opened the door of her room forcefully. She stumbled to her futon and blacked out.

* * *

Yahiko walked empty handed and broken hearted through the streets. The Kenshin-gumi hadn't seen Kaoru since yesterday morning. Nobody in the market had seen her and nobody could have known where she could have gone too. He saw Kenshin run from one restaurant to another, knowing that he wasn't having any better luck finding her then he was. They had searched all night, going from door to door in hopes that someone had seen her or taken her in for the night. Yahiko walked over to a stone wall and sat down. He rubbed his face tiredly and felt Kenshin sit next to him.

"This one doesn't even know where to start. Sessha knows that she was mad when she went out that morning but hadn't really put any thought into it. She could be lost out there in the forest." He put his face into his hands. He had almost known this was going to happen. Something was always wrong with the group and it had been a while since anything last happened.

"Kenshin, this isn't your fault. Don't go blaming yourself for Busu's mistakes. She wouldn't like you doing that." He heard a throaty sigh at the mention of Yahiko's nickname for her. After a few minutes, Yahiko and Kenshin stood up to go back to the dojo. They walked in silence, hoping for some sort of relief from the stillness. Maybe Kaoru's voice would ring through the air. But as they got to the dojo, Yahiko sighed in disappointment. Kenshin unlocked the dojo gates and opened them, stiffening as he got in.

"Kaoru…dono?" He looked over at Yahiko before running towards Kaoru's room. He looked down at the porch that was covered in mud and slime. "Kaoru-dono are you here?!"

"Is she here?" Yahiko ran a little past Kenshin and slid on the mud and fell on his butt. "Ughh where did all this shit come from?"

Kenshin walked into the room and looked around. The futon had been messed up badly, the mud covering the top blanket and the pillows were missing. In fact, the mud was everywhere. He heard a groan nearby and looked around trying to find where the sound was coming from. He looked up to the beam running across the top of the room and saw something hanging over the cross beams. He looked around and jumped up onto the dresser then the closet. He lifted himself onto the top of the beam. Crouching he saw a form cuddled up between the beams in such a certain way, they would never fall.

He walked over with the skills he learned as a former assassin and looked over the new blanket. He shook the form underneath. It let out a loud yelp and flipped over. But as it flipped it realize a bit too late that it was up in the beam supports. It flipped into the air and landed on its hands and knees almost gracefully. Kenshin dropped beside it as it struggled with the blankets. He pulled the covers back, revealing a mud and blood covered Kaoru.

"Kaoru-dono…Wha?" He stopped short. He looked at her with agony in his eyes. He couldn't even finish his sentence because he was in such shock. Where did she get all this mud on her? And that couldn't possibly her own blood on her face could it? "Kaoru?"

"Uh…"She looked over at Kenshin with wide eyes. She couldn't remember anything before last night. She remembered Sano and those guys but then everything faded and blended together.

"Kaoru-dono, what happened to you? Yahiko and I have been looking for you all day." At the sound of things crashing Yahiko had dashed into his room getting more mud on the tatami. He stopped short at the sight Kaoru was in. She looked at Kenshin and tilted her head as if she didn't understand the question.

"I don't remember."

"What do you mean you don't remember? How can you not remember what happened to you when you like that?!" Yahiko looked at Kaoru dumbfounded as he looked her down again.

"Yahiko let's not worry about that right now. First lets get you cleaned off, kaoru-dono. You're filthy." Kenshin helped kaoru up by holding her hands. She wobbled a bit but stood then looked at Kenshin. He led her to the bath house and shooed her inside. After she was in and the door closed behind her, he ran over to the fire pit. He reheated the coals and fanned them to make them smolder hotter. After a few minutes, he heard the splash as Kaoru got in the tub and started washing.

Kenshin walked around the corner to Yahiko's room. The boy had gone to get new clothes on once Kenshin and Kaoru had gone. He had to get that gunk off his clothes or else it would never come off. Yahiko opened his door and almost ran into Kenshin.

"Oh there you are. How's Kaoru?" Yahiko asked, not even trying to hide the worry written all over his face about his sensei. Kenshin slide his hand over his head and shook it.

"This one didn't see any potentially dangerous wounds on her. Though where all that blood came from, or if it's even hers, I'm not sure. That's why I came over to your room. I was hoping to send you to go get Megumi, just to be on the safe side."

"Yeah, I'll go right now. I'll be back as soon as I can." Yahiko took a couple of steps then turned around. "Um do you think you could remind me of my pants when I come back."

Kenshin nodded as Yahiko turned around and ran toward the gates. Kenshin watched as he disappeared through the big doors then turned to go to Kaoru's room. He was hoping maybe she had left something, some sort of clue as to what happened to her. He got half way when he heard a yell come from the bath house's direction. His eyes narrowed dangerously as he turned and dashed toward Kaoru.

"Kaoru-dono!? Are you ok in there?" He waited for a response but a few moments of no sound, his patience wore thin. He threw open the door to find Kaoru out of the bath nice and clean. She had a towel wrapped around her and she was holding her head in one hand, her body sagging against the wall. He ran over to her, his hands hovering inches above her body with embarrassment and nervousness. "Kaoru-dono? Kaoru what's wrong with you. Does your head hurt?"

"Yeah, it's throbbing. I couldn't get the blood totally out of my hair in that area. Plus I'm a bit scared. I just spit up some blood a few minutes ago." Kenshin looked at her alarmed then took her shoulders gently but firmly and led her to his room. When he got there he made her sit down while he prepared the bed. She sat there, trying to keep her towel on, while Kenshin flipped out his futon and threw the blanket over. He then motioned for her to get into bed. After he laid her down He knelt beside her.

"Yahiko just left to go get Megumi-dono. You should stay in bed until she gets here. I will go…" He stopped mid sentence as he felt a hand go around his own.

"You would go when I need you Kenshin?" He turned around with his famous, priceless confused expression.

"This one will just be waiting outside the dojo gates to show Megumi-dono where to go and…"

Stay with me Kenshin I need you." She sat back up and put his hand over her breast. He blushed profusely as his hand touched uncovered skin. Her words put him down and he went into a sitting position. He looked at her again and felt a relatively new ki coming off her. It was the same ki as the old Kaoru's but something had changed about it. This new ki was not to be avoided It gave off a certain grace, shyness and gentleness as the old one did. But it was also giving off a certain cunning, ferocity and confidence that hadn't been there before. He became weary but got thrown by her unyielding eyes. She let go of his hand and watched it quickly go back to his lap.

"Ok Kaoru-dono. This one will sit her with you." He looked out the door again so she wouldn't see the red forming over his face. He was content to looking out the door until Megumi came but suddenly felt a pair of eyes searching him. He looked over to Kaoru slightly in secret. Her eyes were taking in every inch of his form hungrily. They roamed over again and again, hovering in certain areas. He saw her lick her lips quickly then sigh and look back toward the door. She startled him when she started speaking.

"So, I guess I blew the whole dinner date you had planned with me. I was really looking forward to it too." He looked over to see her look back at him, smiling gently.

"I guess so. Don't worry Kaoru-dono. If you want, we could always reschedule."

"Mmmh. That sounds good to me." They looked back out the door with less stress between them. After a while, Kaoru slid her hand closer to Kenshin's then laid it on top of his. Suddenly her head gave out another burst of pain as she remembered a bit from the night before, but only a tiny bit. She put her other hand to her head as voices rang through her head about Battousai. Kenshin took a quick glance at her worriedly but knew he couldn't do anything to help her. He noticed her other hand was still firmly placed on top of his own. He turned his around to grab it.

After a few moments, Yahiko came running up to Kenshin's door and called for Megumi at the gate. Megumi came in and sat down beside Kaoru, her medicine box right next to her. Kenshin told her what happened about the bath accident.

"So, can anyone tell me what's happened here? Yahiko didn't give me too much detail about the matter." She put Kaoru's hair up out of the way and began searching her head over. When she got to the spot where it had been hurting the most, her eyebrows went up in shock.

"Well, Kaoru-dono had gotten mad at a stranger that had arrived at the dojo. Shortly after, she left to go do some errands and she never came home. That's all this one knows." Megumi nodded as she took something out of the box and looked closer. After she came up with her diagnosis she looked at Kaoru.

"I...don't remember anything about yesterday. I don't remember the stranger or ever getting mad. I'm sorry Megumi."

"Well it's no wonder you don't remember anything. From what I gather through your injuries and past story, it looks like you either hit or got hit in the head pretty hard." She motioned for Kenshin to come sit by her and see the wound. After he got over there his mouth dropped. "Your head is really bruised or even fractured in this area that you've been complaining about.

"Fractured!?" Both Kaoru and Yahiko yelled in shock. Kaoru held her hand up to her forehead as she tried harder to remember the night before. All she got was a garbled fuzzy mess. "It's not too bad, is it Megumi?"

"Well, surprisingly, it looks like it's already started to heal itself. You're just going to have to take it easy for a couple of weeks, maybe a month or so just top be safe. That means no fist fighting and no kendo…understand?" It looked like Megumi had just dropped a load of bricks on Kaoru's stomach. She sat their agape at the command she had just been given. She couldn't stop kendo; it was their main income for the dojo. How would Kenshin be ale to pay the rent with two people with no income lives there? "Kenshin...would you…"

"Megumi, I can't just quit kendo! It's like asking you to stop being a doctor. Not only that but how in the hell would we pay rent?! You've gone crazy."

"Yes, I had a feeling that you would go to that problem as soon as I uttered those words out." She looked over at Kenshin dramatically. He smiled a little. "Ken-san, would it be too difficult to find a job?

"Not at all, Megumi-dono. This one could find a job quickly enough to start saving up for the bills and food. I will do anything to help Kaoru-dono."

"Well then, could you be a loving friend and do a favor for me? Make sure to keep her from any strenuous activities, including Kendo." Kaoru gave out a loud breath and grunted.

"Certainly, Megumi-dono." If it means that kaoru-dono doesn't get anymore of these headaches."

"God, Kenshin. You're as bad as that kitsune sometimes." He smiled and just looked back her with his rurouni grin. She thought of a come back then smirked slyly. She put her hand dramatically and played innocent. "Also, do you guys mind if I put some clothes. Kenshin never really gave me a chance to do so."

"ORO?!"

"Wooo, go Kenshin!" For the first time since the Kenshin gumi formed, Kenshin smacked Yahiko right over the head for his accusation.


	4. cat's magic

**Cat's Magic**

"Kenshin is supper ready yet?" Kaoru yelled from Kenshin's room. After Megumi had left a day ago, Kenshin went all out body guard on her. She had tried to get up and help clean her room but Kenshin practically forbid her from leaving the room. What she could tell from Kenshin's motions, he had found a job and a hard working one at that too. This only means that her room wasn't nearly as clean as she would have liked. "Do you need help; I would be willing to do something."

"No Kaoru-dono. The rice is just starting to boil all is left is the fish. You just relax ok." She sighed and laid back down for a moment. Enough was enough. Her muscles ached from not being used in over a day or two. She slowly got up and walked over to the shoji. The wood rattled as she opened the door and snuck past it, her feet naturally going to the places that made the least amount of sound on the floor. After seeing no one around she snuck toward her room, stopping only once in front of the kitchen to look at Kenshin. His back was to her as he prepared the fish for tonight's dinner. She smiled gently thinking about what they had been through the past year. She began walking back to her room.

"Oh, what a mess in here!" She scanned her surroundings, surveying the damage that she would have to clean. She noticed that Kenshin had managed to take out her futon and mattress to be cleaned but the rest was filthy. She noticed Kenshin had left a bucket of water with a rag this morning. She took the rag and began wiping the dresser off, the mud had been left there to dry into the wood so she had to scrub harder then usual. She got to some more surfaces before wiping her forehead.

She looked up and saw that the mud reached all the way up to the woodwork. She placed the bucket onto the dresser then hauled both herself and the water up to the ceiling's woodworks. She sat on top of the dresser wiping away the mud. After she was finished she unconsciously got onto the support beams and started chipping away the flakes of mud. She stopped when she remembered about supper and Kenshin. She cursed mentally as she braced her self.

"Kaoru-dono?!" She sighed and like a cat, walked toward the end of the beam. But right before she could get to the end her foot gave way to some of the mud and she let out a scream of shock. Her body slid around the pole as her arms and legs attached themselves. She was stuck as she heard feet coming toward her room and the door slid open. Kenshin walked inside confused and looked around. Despite herself, she began to laugh at her mistake and Kenshin looked up. "Ughh. What are you **doing** up their, Kaoru-dono!?

"You look kind of weird upside down, has anyone ever told you that." Kenshin let out another exasperated sigh and climbed up to the beam to help Kaoru back up. After she got her feet firmly planted on the beam, Kenshin did something unlike him. He picked her up from behind the knees and jumped down to the floor. She had gasped when he grabbed her and wrapped her arms around his neck, her face in his soft hair. "I'm really sorry Kenshin. I didn't think I would fall off…"

"Kaoru dono, you must stop doing these kinds of things. If you had just swept or cleaned your dresser I wouldn't have minded. You could have really gotten hurt this time." He dropped her back onto her feet and gave her a stern almost irritated look of disappointment. She opened her mouth to start explaining but he put his hand up in objection. "What if you had fallen on your head, it would have caused more injury. You should start thinking before you act. I would be…."

"I was only trying to HELP, Kenshin!" Her faced twisted into a look of hurt as she turned and ran back to his room, leaving him stunned.

"Kaoru-dono, wait!" He stumbled out the door but kaoru had already rounded the corner. He slid his hand on his face then started walking back to his room.

Kaoru slammed the shoji open and paced around for a couple of minutes. Her body let off some steam as she thought of Kenshin, yet again. She hadn't wanted to make him mad, far from it. He was the only one she really cared about in the dojo. She wanted him to care but he was going over board with this protection situation. She stomped to the bed and got on her hands and knees and placed her head in his pillow. It smelled piney, like he had gone to the forest every night before going to bed. She squeezed her eyes shut as she heard him walk into the room. "Go away Kenshin."

"Kaoru-dono, can we at least…"

"I don't want to talk about it Kenshin."

"Well this is my appointed room. What would you like this one to do?"

"It's my dojo you know. Just get out Kenshin, Out!" She sniffed back threatening tears and laid there for a couple of minutes. She heard Kenshin walk out of the room in silence. After what seemed like an eternity, Kaoru lifted her head and looked around. Her senses seem strangely sharper as she realized something didn't feel right. She walked around the dojo looking around for Kenshin. She noticed the sakabato was gone as well. After a half an hour of not finding him in or around the premises she started hyperventilating from trying to hold back tears and stress. She walked into the kitchen to see two places set down, the food already stone cold. She walked over to her usual cushion to find a note sitting there. She grabbed it and read it with shaking hands. She started crying as she realized the colossal mistake she had made. It read:

"_Sessha is sorry for upsetting you so much. Apparently this one has become too comfortable and you don't want me here any longer. If you are in any serious trouble, this one will always be willing to help. This one will be staying at the ruffian row._

_Kenshin."_

The paper ripped from the stress as she bawled her hands up. She crumpled the paper violently into a ball and threw it out the door. She looked out in to the darkness that had settled and screamed as if that would rewind the day. She felt her head throbbing around the general area. She felt a drastic change in herself twist her reason. She cocked her head a little when she heard someone come barging through the front gate drunk. Sano came stumbling through the door a few minutes after.

"Hey Jo-chan. I just saws Kenshin walkin away from the dojo. Whats you twos been doin. He looks like you punched him in the face." She had been turned away from him but at the mention of Kenshin's name she turned around to face him.

"Go home Sano. I don't want your drunken state in this house anymore. I've asked you nicely before but…"

"Aww come on Jo-chan. I'm just havin a bit of fun. You need to get a fuckin life…" He stopped short as she ripped around with the angriest expression he had seen on her yet. But it was different then all the rest. Her eyes glowed with a surreal glean, the pupils had become slits. Before he could react in his drunken demeanor, she had floored him with a couple of punches, her foot landing atop of his chest heavily. After a few minutes of silence, she smirked almost evilly. She leaned in so close that her mouth was right next to his ear, her breath tickled his neck. He looked at her startled and confused at the new reaction he was getting from his friend. Something had happened that he had no knowledge of.

"Do you hear that Sano? It's called having a bit of peace and quiet. From now on, that's what I expect to have in my dojo when you decide to go get drunk out of your mind. Now get out." She lifted her foot off Sano and walked towards her room. She heard him get up pick up the paper after finding it, half stumble, half run toward the door. She gave out a sigh, almost strangled cry. "I lost Kenshin, again. I need to get out of here."

She opened her closet and started throwing her clothes over the ground. She stopped short as she found pieces of Oniwa banshuu's "parting present". She smirked at herself and began to change into the pieces. She put the dress that Okon had given to her. It looked exactly like Okon's except it was colored black. She took off her top and walked over to the mirror. She rewrapped her bandages over her chest, except now the bandages where black. She grabbed the black Ribbon Misao had given her and started wrapping her sandals to her feet like the Oniwa banshuu had done. She ripped the pink hair ribbon from hair and rewrapped her ponytail with the black ribbon. She re stood up in front of the mirror and smirked at her new look. Kenshin would have been surprised at the least. She added the last of it, a simple black mask she had gotten at the flower festival.

"I think it's about time to get the respect back I some how lost over these last few months. Plus, I really want to see Kenshin." She darted out of her room, her hand quickly grabbing her bokken. She climbed with ease onto the roof and look out to the city. She quickly spotted the ruffian row to the west. She ran and jumped to the walls roof then down into the road, not bothering to unlock the front gate. She didn't need to anymore; she felt the power surge within her as she darted towards the ruffian row. The wind wrapped around her newly exposed skin and she felt refreshed. She felt as if this new freedom lifted her spirits away from the depression of Kenshin leaving.

She climbed up a pipe with ease and started walking agilely over the roof tops as she got closer to the ruffian row. The area she was entering had many a thug living in the area and she didn't need to be seen by one of them, though it mattered little. With her powers she could easily get away from them. She dropped down from the closest house onto the ruffian row shacks. She scurried along, getting past a couple of women hurrying back into their house, unseen. She dropped in front of Sano's door. She hurried over to the window and opened the window a bit, looking into the room.

Sano and Kenshin sat still in the middle of the room. Kenshin's torn note was sitting still sitting beside him as when he had first gotten it from Sano. Sano looked over at Kenshin, who seemed to either be lost in his own thoughts or was so interested in the tea that he wasn't removing his eyes from the cup. He shifted uncomfortably and looked at the note.

"She acted so weird when I arrived at the dojo, Kenshin. I mean, she's been violent in the past, but this was so different then normal." Kaoru smirked at the past thoughts of her hitting them with her bokken. "I think she was affected by your departure. I can't believe you told her through a note. After all that you two have been through."

"I just wanted her to learn from this. I didn't know she would react this badly. I'm sorry she gave you that." Kenshin looked back up to Sano; his face had started turning black from the couple of punches Kaoru had landed on his face. Kaoru winced when she saw the black marks, noting to try and restrain her power a bit when she got too mad. Sano waved it off as his strong point.

"So why did you leave in the first place Kenshin? I mean, everyone knows you two like each other." Kenshin took a sip of his tea before answering.

"Like I said before, I left the dojo to give Kaoru some time alone to think about her life. She seems to be emanating this new ki that I can't seem to figure out." Kenshin looked at his tea when he thought of the strange ki. He hadn't felt anything like that before, even in his hitokiri days.

"So what is Jo-chan suppose to do about money? You said you had started paying so she wouldn't have to do kendo, like Megumi told her."

"I'm going to be leaving the money by the door, I don't need it but she does. I still care for her; even if she thinks differently now." Kaoru licked her lips and held her hands together. She looked up into the sky. He just admitted to liking her. She heard it herself from his lips. After seeing that Kenshin was ok, she snuck back onto the roof and looked about.

"Now what am I going to do. I can't just waltz into Sano's apartment. Kenshin would probably think I was there for him, which wouldn't be a false accusation." She walked gracefully over the very tops of the tiled roofs thinking. She could go back home but she didn't have anyone there now. Yahiko had just moved out yesterday. Said he had grown old enough to try and live on his own. "What a brat."

She walked over the roofs to the edge of the main road. She knelt down on the edge of the roofs, her hands grasping the edge as she leaned over to see the empty streets. It was dead silent, as to be expected. Suddenly a loud bang got her attention through the darkness. She lifted an eyebrow and slinked over the roof tops to where two men, yakuza probably, were robbing a bank exchange unit. She dropped down and stood in front of the store. She felt her prowess growing as she looked and saw a whole bunch of glittering jewels.

"You boys think you can just steal those precious items?" They whipped around pulling out their knives. One of them snorted and jerked his head in her direction as if to laugh at her more. "That's sounds brilliant to me."

"Hey chickadee, you should be leaving this place. Ain't no place for women." They snickered and stepped towards her a bit. She raised her eyebrow and smiley slyly. She took a couple of steps forward as well, her steps well defined. The guys stopped smiling as they realized she was serious. "You must be stupid."

The guys ran towards her and attacked her with the knives. She dodged them not even trying. She didn't even pull out her bokken from behind her. She moved indiscreetly as their blades kept missing inches from her. She started playing with them once she got bored of their feeble attempts. She grabbed one of them from behind and threw him into a wall as the other guy fell forward behind her. She twisted around down on her hands and knees, bring her leg up in front of the man. He tripped over her leg and fell onto his face. The other guy had gotten up and pulled a gun on her. She laughed and before the guy could see where she was, she was hitting the guns direction away from her and grabbed his throat. She spun around and threw the guy into the other men. She put her hand up as though it was a paw and meowed.

The guys were both freaked by this point and the other guy got his gun as well. She laughed and jumped up into the rafters away from harm. They began trying to shoot her but she just did acrobatics on the poles to get away. Soon she was on top of them again as they looked up. The guy's gun clicked as he tried to shoot it with no bullets. She dropped down onto the two men and knocked their head together, knocking them out.

She grabbed one of the bags on the ground the mean had dropped and began looking the jewels one at a time. She grabbed the bigger ones because they were the shined the most under the night sky. Then something picked her interest. She walked over to see a cat mask. It wasn't too great of value but the mask itself was a work of art. The mask was golden in the very middle but faded into black at the edges. It had a bunch of stones on the bottom edge of the mask making the mask glow to a certain extent.

She picked up the mask gently and removed her mask in the process. She walked over to one of the mirrors they had and put it up to her face. She liked it though her skin tone around the eyes irritated her. Other then that, she fell madly in love with it. She placed her old worthless black mask where the cat one was to be, putting the cat mask on her face. She looked the men once again before slipping out into the night laughing.


	5. Neko onna, oh no

**Neko-onna, oh no!**

Kaoru yawned and stretched lazily. She didn't remember too much from last night at the beginning. But as she sat up and pushed her hair down she noticed something glittering on the floor. Not just one but hundreds of little diamonds and other precious stone littered the floor. She felt her mouth dropped as she crawled over to them. She lifted one of them up as the night flashed back to her. Kenshin leaving, Sano's drunkenness and that wasn't even the worst of it.

"Oh Kami, what have I done?" She got and fixed her yakuta as she ran out to get a bag t o put them in. She started scooping them up and dropping them into the bag. After a while she started being pickier at what she put into the bag itself. She started putting some of the jewelry on then putting it into the bag. After she got the little stuff into the bag she looked around and found the mask and her costume. She walked over to the mask and bent down to look at it. She smiled and flipped it around a couple of times before putting the costume and the mask into her closet.

She walked out of her room and started making breakfast for herself. She wasn't going to return those things without at least some food first. She made a couple of simple rice balls and ate in silence, sitting out on the porch watching the sky. She finished the last one then turned and looked at Kenshin. She sighed then stood up. After she got dressed for the day in her kendo outfit, she grabbed the two bags and started out for the store that she had been to last night.

She took a few quick steps around the alley and then peaked around the corner to find the police already their. To her surprise and fear, Saito stepped out of the building looking thoroughly irritated. She saw a couple of police exit afterward with a couple of beat up men. She recognized them immediately and a smile crept out.

* * *

"You people must have seen some kind of trait different from the rest."

"No…no she was like a cat. I couldn't see her at all. Not when she didn't want us too. By the time we woke up and you found us, the woman had already been long gone." Saitō puffed out after puffing his cigarette. He waved his hand and the police took the men away. He walked back over to someone inside the door and began speaking with him.

"Cho, have you found anything yet? I can't get this case anywhere if I don't have suspects."

"Well, after interrogating them thoroughly they only brought up a few details. First off, her fighting moves. They say she had a bokken strapped to her back, not a regular katana. The other thing is what they named her."

"And what is so special about what they name someone?"

"Well they named her "Neko onna". The way they describe her fighting and moving sounds devious and underhanded like a cat is known for. So that…"

"That does me no good Cho. Though at least we have a name o we don't have to keep calling her girl. They walked back into the room where the fight had occurred and looked down as Cho tripped over something. A huge bag lay in the middle of the room. They looked at each other and Cho open the bag. He gaped and started laughing, shaking his head as he opened the bag up for Saito.

"Would you look at that?" Saitō took the cigarette out of his mouth and grinned. On the side of the bag was one word, "gomen". He shook his head as he looked through the bag at all the priceless jewels that had been returned so graciously by Neko-onna. "We are still missing the mask though. That's been in history for centuries in secret. How would someone know to take it?"

"Also, how many girls in Tokyo carry a bokken?" Saitō's eyebrow went up as he thought of a few.

* * *

"Sir ken, could you bring this to table 12 please." Tae handed over a tray to Kenshin and he nodded, walking off toward the designated table. He had found work, but only through the Akabeko like Yahiko had. Knowing friends with their own business helped a great deal. He sighed and wiped his forehead as the couple started eating. He looked back at them and suddenly thought of Kaoru and their promise. He looked down then turned around.

"Tae-dono? This one is going to take his lunch now." Tae nodded as she watched Kenshin walk into the kitchen to make lunch for himself. For the past couple of days he seemed very unhappy. She sighed angrily then began taking other customers. Kenshin came back out with a meager bowl of rise and a cup of tea and sat down at the back table. Kaoru's favorite table actually.

Tae walked over to the counter to give the cook the orders when she heard the door curtain open. She turned around to greet her newest costumer to found Kaoru walk in. She put her hand over her moth and looked quickly at Kenshin, who hadn't noticed these events.

"Welcome, let me seat you." She walked over to Kaoru and took her by the arm. She tried to lead her to the one by the door but Kaoru shook her head.

"Not today Tae, I need some time alone." Before tae could stop her, Kaoru walked to the back and got to the table to find Kenshin sitting there. He looked over in surprise at Kaoru, setting his bowl down. Kaoru looked down. "Hello Kenshin. May I sit here as well?"

"Sure, this one doesn't mind." Kaoru nodded and took a seat in front of Kenshin. It felt awkward, knowing what she did now. Kenshin went back to eating, not feeling Kaoru's emotions.

"Did you happen to see Sano last night? We got into a scuffle and afterwards I tried finding him." She looked down at her hands as she remembered the huge black marks on Sano's face. "I wanted to apologize for punching him. That was…reckless of me."

"This one did see him last night. I will relay the message to him when I go back tonight." Kaoru opened her mouth but then closed it. She couldn't' tell Kenshin to come back. That would ruin her plans. He looked at her, hoping to hear the words he wanted to hear. For her to take him back in but nothing ever came. But he did get some good news.

"So…we never re scheduled our dinner. Would lunch suffice?" She looked at him slyly as he looked up from his rice bowl. "Aren't you going to order me something?"

Kenshin blinked then laughed. This was new for him, both Kaoru and dating. He noticed tae in the background biting her lip as she peaked around the corner. He nodded a yes, hoping she would get the message. He looked back at Kaoru who was still looking at him smiling. He thought of something to say.

"So Kaoru-dono, did you hear about the robbery last night?" he almost wished he hadn't said that. She grew stiff and tried to shrug it off. "They say they even have a name for her."

"A...a name for her? Don't they think it's a little early to be throwing pronouns around? It could be a guy who is doing this."

"No, apparently two men had tried to break in before her and got beaten down pretty badly. But they managed to get a good enough look at the person to decide the gender."

"Of course they did. The police don't seem to know how to keep secrets, do they?" Kaoru shook her head at that sad fact as Tae set some tea down for her. She smiled a thank you then took a sip of it. "So do you know what they decided to call this masked woman?"

"Well, the men kept shouting out a name when they first were captured by the police and it stuck. They're calling her "Neko-onna"."

"Cat woman?" She looked at her hands like they weren't hers. She never thought she would have been able to do something like that last night. There was something wrong with her that fact was true. She had to figure this out. Suddenly the world was spinning. She put one hand on the table and one on her head as she saw a brief flash of a memory. Two men with bokkens were staring down at her. She heard someone shouting in the background. Suddenly everything came back to focus and found Kenshin at her side.

"Kaoru-dono, are you all right. You went pale and you didn't look to well." He placed a hand on her back worryingly. She smiled lightly. At least last night wasn't a lie. He did care about her that too was true. She hid the shake in her hands and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine Kenshin. I just had another headache. They'll probably be around until this heals up completely." She tapped her head lightly with a finger as she covered up her story with another lie. He shook his head and returned to his spot on the other side of the table. Kaoru looked around to see the restaurant had gone silent with tension and worry. She coughed and smiled. "Now, Kenshin I would like to turn this day around and make it a very good one. Don't you agree?"

"That sounds like a very good idea, Kaoru-dono." He looked up at her expecting her to ask him back but she just looked at him.

"How would you go about doing that Kenshin? I myself don't want to go back to my dojo just yet. If you're not too busy we could…just be together a little latter." She picked up her tea and drank it with a confident motion. Kenshin just watched as the new Kaoru took over again. She smiled back up at him with a mischievous grin. She knew exactly what he wanted but she wasn't going to give it to him. He was blushing slightly at her gesture of peace.

"This one likes the sound of that idea. I could ask Tae-do…"

"Go for it Ken-san. You can take as many hours as you want off. In fact, the whole night is yours. I'll even pay you." Tae came up smiling innocently. Kaoru laughed at her friends urges and gave a little wink to Tae to relay the message of seriousness. Tae covered her mouth as it made a ring

"Yeah Kenshin, come and get it." She fingered him as her eyes narrowed and her grin broadened. Tae's mouth literally dropped at her friends knew attitude toward her relationship with Kenshin. Kenshin felt his eyebrow rise despite of himself. He felt his darker side bubble a little. He couldn't say the hitokiri inside him was taking control because he had won his battle with that side of himself during the whole Shishio incident, but some of it was still there and it was feisty.

Kaoru watched the reaction play on Kenshin's face with amusement. First his face went into this look of shock. Then, as suddenly as hers, his attitude changed as well. His eyebrow went up and he smiled a feral grin for a second before regaining his control. She felt a love shiver go up her spin when she saw, just for a moment, a spark of amber go through his eyes.

"Kaoru-dono, you've changed a lot during the one night I have been gone, that you have."

"You have no clue what's happening to me Kenshin." She smirked in annoyance but then realized a sad truth. He didn't know; that was a fact. But the truth was, she didn't know herself what was going on. His face flashed a bit of suspicion and nervousness with her anger.

"Can you tell me what's happening to you?" She looked at him, her attitude deflating back to normal.

"No…I can't Kenshin."


	6. Meow!

**Meooow!**

Kenshin and Kaoru sat there for the longest time in the Akabeko. They talked for a bit and started to relax to the original feeling of peace before the whole incident started. He told her about his night spent at the ruffian row. She listened intently while watching Kenshin laugh and talk about the events. She started thinking to herself. He had almost turned to the darker side to be in step with her. It made her nervous yet somewhat giddy to think she had caught the attention of the legend inside Kenshin.

"So Kaoru-dono, what do you want to do today? Since I have this evening off, I was thinking maybe we could enjoy each other's company." He smiled at her slightly and she looked at the table as she nodded with thought. After they were finished with lunch she and Kenshin walked out of the restaurant and down the street. She watched as women gathered the food and went on their way back home to start dinner. She glanced over at Kenshin who was still looking forward.

"Hey Kenshin lets go to Sano's." Kenshin started and looked at her funny. "Well I could apologize myself and also…I've never really seen you drunk before."

"Oro...do you want to see this one drunk?!" He looked over at smiling nervously. He didn't like where this was going. When Kaoru drank it usually ended up with some one getting hurt because of her flash tempers.

"Maybe. What would you do if I said yes?" She leaned into him and gave her grin again. His face puckered as he thought of a good answer. He grinned his famous smile and shook his head. "Ha-ha you don't know?! What if …we ended up together naked somewhere afterward? What would be your first thought?"

"Gah...I don't know Kaoru-dono!! I think I would be confused how we got there in the first place. Would there be a story behind it?" He felt the dark bubble even more as he laughed. She smirked and looked away while pretending not to hear him. He laughed even louder at her reaction. They started walking down the alleys toward ruffian row. "So Sano's huh? So much for being alone."

"Ahh well, the more the merrier as the saying goes. You know that saying at least, or are you even older then you say you are." Kenshin frowned over at Kaoru and she laughed. "Well can you blame me? Most revolutionaries where in the early 20's when they started fighting."

"It's not my fault I was younger then most of them." Kenshin huffed and they walked in silence until they got to Sano's. At this time of day, Sano would just be sleeping or gambling. But they were in luck; Sano had one of his friends over. Kenshin opened the door to see Sano and Katsu looking back at them. Sano's eye widened in wonder as Kaoru walked in after Kenshin. She opened her mouth and spurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"I hope those bruises taught you something Sanosuke." He glowered over to her and she smiled. After a bit of a glare down and the audience in shock, Sano laughed. "Well I'm glad. Or I would have to beat you down some more."

"Anytime; any day, Jo-chan. So what brings you and Kenshin back? I would have thought for sure you would just be begging for your man back…"He felt her wrath as the magic bokken slammed into his head. Katsu sighed as his friend slid down to the ground, the sake cup spilling over. Kenshin sat down with the two men as Kaoru situated herself to a calmer state of mind.

"So I heard you and Sano had a spat. That's why he's so bruised up. Good job Kaoru." Kaoru smiled stiffly then looked over at Sano apologetically.

"Sorry about your face Sano. I got over carried last night. I guess I was just in shock is all. But I'm doing much batter now." He snickered and she frowned. "But don't think that means you off the hook for anything you say badly about me tonight, rooster head."

"Aww come on don't you think the vixen calling me that was enough. Don't tell me she's gotten to you too, Jo-chan." They laughed and Sano took another drink. That's when something seemed to flick a light switch on. "That reminds me. I got this awesome little trinket from one of the smaller towns."

They watched as Sano got up from his seat and started rummaging through his little dresser. Kenshin offered to pour Kaoru her drank and she waved her cup in front of him. After a couple of sips, Sano finally returned with a small parcel. He put it down and opened it gently. Inside was a little kid's toy. It had a handle with two cups to either side. It also had a spear at the top and a string tied to the bottom of the two cups with a ball on it. The ball itself had a small hole drilled into the bottom.

"What is that silly thing Sano?" Kaoru took it from him and eyed it up and down. She took another sip from her Sake before handing it over to Kenshin so he could give it a look see.

"It's a child's toy. The game that goes with it is Kendama. Though it's a child's game, grown ups have warped it for their own nice purposes." Sano gave a delightful chuckle as Katsu took his turn. "Wanna hear how it's played down here?"

"Oohhh, and how do you play this fascinating adult version game?" Kaoru widened her eyes and leaned over onto her hand. Kenshin looked up at Sano as well as the toy was finally passed back to the owner.

"Ok so the objective of this game is to either spear the ball onto the top of the spear or get it into one of the cups." Sano said as he tried to demonstrate but failed a couple of times. Kaoru snorted as he failed one last time. "Ok you get the picture. Now the adults upped the anti by placing one rule. If you fail your mission of getting the ball into the cup, you have to drink because you've done wrong."

"Oh I like this idea."

"I don't." Kenshin made a face and Kaoru slapped him on the arm playfully. Sano looked to Katsu who just shrugged. "This one does not trust Kaoru-dono while she is drunk."

"Oh Kenshin lighten up. I'm a changed woman." That brought up Sano's eyebrow a bit. She smirked at him then looked at Kenshin laughing. "Come on Kenshin. We're just going to have a bit of fun."

"I guess so. So who goes first?" Sano tossed the toy to Kenshin as the first. Kenshin tried it but it fell out of the cup right at the end. Kaoru laughed as Kenshin sucked down his cup of sake. He handed it to Kaoru and her attempt turned out just as bad as his. She drank her glass over and tossed the toy to Katsu. And so the game went on for a couple of more hours. Kaoru was the drunk of them all, giddy and leaning on Kenshin just a bit, showing off her smooth skin at the top of her chest as her gi slipped off her shoulder. Kenshin was the second drunk, surprisingly. His eyes kept going from the people to Kaoru's uncovered cleavage, his mind trying to stay focused but the bubbling in him was getting harder to control.

Kaoru tossed the toy again and she made a feeble stab but was laughing too hard to even get the ball into the air. She calmed herself down long enough to stare at the ball and then yanked her hand up so fast and hard that the string on the toy broke and the ball went flying into the roof. Kenshin and the gang just sat there staring at the ball for a moment before Kaoru's cat senses kicked in. She saw the world moving in a drunken slow crawl as she stood up then jumped into the rafters completely and balanced on the rounded pole. Sano spit out his drink as other two gawked.

She walked along the poles to the other end of the building where the ball had landed. She pulled out the ball and crawled back to the gang's spot and dropped down gracefully. She looked around at the men who were eyeing her wearily. She shrugged and put the ball down.

"I guess…that the game is over. How do you decide the winner, rooster head?" He just sat there with a blank look on his face along with Kenshin. Katsu had begun writing something down in a little notebook he kept in his pants.

"Kaoru-dono, I didn't know you were that athletic." Kenshin stood up on wobbly legs and walked over to her. She became doubled as he took her shoulders and let out a moan. The rougher side broke free as he took a whiff of her scent. "This one thinks…that you should go home, that you should. I wouldn't mind walking you back."

"Oh, well, how very gentlemen like of you Kenshin." She looked over to see his eyes flashing amber. His feral grin returned and she smiled back just as feral. He rested an arm on her shoulder as she steadied him and the two said their goodbyes. Sano watched as they walked out of the door, Kaoru seemingly in more control then Kenshin. He looked over at Katsu and shook his head.

"Who would have imagined those two getting on to each other? Where are you going?" Katsu stood up, placing his notebook back into his pocket and headed for the door. Katsu shook his head and looked up to the hole in the roof where the ball had been stuck.

"There is something different about your friend, Sano. I've heard a couple of stories but I have to go check to see for sure."

"Ok, have a nice night Katsu. See you tomorrow." Sano raised his sake cup as Katsu closed the door behind him. Sano looked up at the hole and shook his head. He knew he had the night to himself. He just wondered who would make the first move.

* * *

Kenshin and Kaoru made their way to the dojo slowly. Kenshin's arms had slid around her waist gently and he was inhaling her sweet scent ever step he took. They reached the dojo and Kaoru opened the door to let Kenshin stagger inside. She led him to the dojo where she sat him down.

"Now Kenshin, I'm going to go change. You could stay here if you like." She walked of slowly as Kenshin's eyes trailed her every movement. With no control over his darker side he smiled at her "invite". He stood up after a minute and walked to her room. It was darker then black in her room as he reached the door. He slide the door open slowly to see Kaoru standing in front of the mirror, her unclothed skin glowed abnormally under the fading light. Kenshin licked his lips and entered, sliding the shoji behind him gentle. He walked around her futon toward her.

Kaoru turned around to see a much anticipated sight. She could barely see him moving toward her as he closed the door, his hair the only thing she could see. His face was blank under the shadows. She returned her gaze at the mirror as he got closer with each step. She let out a breath as a hand slid slowly over her stomach. His lips touched her shoulder and grazed up her neck to her ear. His hands went down to her hips slowly, taking in the smoothest of skin.

"Kaoru, do you realize what you do to me…?" He put his nose into her hair and back to her neck as her scent over took his nose. Jasmine surpassed everything in the room as she slid in his hands to face him, her hands placed on his chest. Her neck arched as he bent down to claim her lips. His hands slid from her waist into her black hair, her hands doing the opposite. Just when Kaoru thought she could take no more, Kenshin broke off letting them both come up for air.

"What do I do to you Kenshin? Tell me…" Her hands went to his shoulders, pulling down his pink gi. His hands went up her down her back side as she removed the sleeves and let the gi rest around his waist. His muscles shuddered under her light touch as she grazed his sides. He pushed her against the wall as he took back her lips onto his own. Her hands explored the rest of his torso, feeling each sinew of muscle as he passionately went to work with her mouth. Kenshin's swordsmanship had carved a perfect marble statue, but not one of big muscle like usual.

They broke off again and Kenshin eased his weight off of her body. She slipped past him but never once let go of him as she led him to the futon. They fell to the mattress delicately and Kenshin took her wrists in both hands and pinned them over her head. As much as Kaoru didn't like guys over taking her, she had been dreaming and waiting of this moment for too long to let her pride get in the way.

She let Kenshin over power her and began kissing down her throat to her torso. She put one hand on his head as he let her wrist go to bring his hand else where. Her thoughts were of him and him only as the night progressed, with her slipping a moan or two. She looked down to see a pair of caring amber eyes peer up from working. She laughed as she felt his hands work their way up to his hakama. If she didn't intervene, she was sure they would end up having a kid.

Before Kenshin go do anything more to his hakama he felt Kaoru stir under him. Before he could size up the movements, he was being flipped onto his back. Kaoru put her leg over his chest as she straddled him between the two. She laughed as his amber colored eyes gave off a doe like innocence. She lifted his hands of her hips and brought her lips by his ear.

"Not just tonight, dear. I have other ideas that don't include kids in the up coming future. OK?" She took his ear in her mouth, he let out a gasp. "Besides, it's my turn to have a little fun."

Kenshin let out another gasp as she started her way downward as he had done. She inhaled sharply as she took in his pine wood smell, traced with a bit of her own smell. Kenshin's head went back as though she were torturing him. His hair was spilling across the mattress, his string had broken free. After what seemed like an eternity, Kenshin let out a moan of his own. Kaoru came back up to his level and began to kiss him like earlier.

She lay down onto of him, both their bodies covered in gleams of sweat. She laid her head down onto his shoulder as she played with the tie on his hakama but nothing more. Kenshin laid his own head down on the mattress, his eyes sagging from lack of energy. He looked over one last time at Kaoru, who had begun to nod off her self. He smiled one last time before unconsciousness came and darkness overtook him.

When light finally reached his still tired eyes, he moved a bit to find something heavy on his arm. His eyes opened bleakly to find Kaoru lying by his side. He stared at her for the longest time, watching her breathes go in and out of her body gently. He laughed as he wondered if she had planned this all along from the moment that question first arose.

"Some story, Kaoru."


	7. Secrets Contained

**Secrets Contained**

Katsu rumbled through the folders he had collected over the past two days. They contained everything there was about cat woman in history. Since the night of Neko onna he had been doing research for his newest article in the paper. The mask she had stolen wasn't very popular by demand, so it wasn't worth anything for art. But the mask had been past down in generations to a secret society.

He pulled out the record of the last known "cat woman" who appeared in the Asian continent. There was a drawn picture of her wearing the same mask that had been stolen that night. He only suspected that this particular female was now in this secret society. Whether she knew it herself or not, he did not know. He looked through the profiles of the women.

He was startled at the mental changes of the women through out a brief time period. Most of them recollect an encounter with an unknown cat then death of some sort before this new "change" took over. The behaviors symptoms listed for those women where the exact ones that Sano's friend was going through.

Not to mention the fact that the women all had the same mask that was stolen. They put new perspective on the thief. The reports said that every woman had told the same story. The mask had called her to itself. If Kaoru had that mask, he was almost certain she was the same as the rest of the woman.

"But she doesn't seem to be aware that she's changing. This is interesting." He flipped through a few more files before leaning back. He had to decide if he was to keep this a secret or bring it to the police and press. He got up and put certain files in his bag. One thing was for certain, he had to talk to Kaoru. He walked over and grabbed the letter he had received in the mail. It was to "a special person" but it was addressed to him because he was researching in that area. Apparently, someone knew the woman in subject would want answers.

He walked out his door and toward the town's market. From there he would probably find Himura who would then lead him to Kaoru's dojo. He looked around, surprised not to see the red haired rurouni wandering from shop to shop. He stopped short when he saw Sano. He ran over to his friend.

"Sano, have you seen Himura around?" Sano looked at him smiling then laughed. Apparently he was missing something.

"Don't you remember last night Katsu? Those two were stark drunk and both seemed pretty aroused to me. I wouldn't be surprised if they were still sleeping." Sano laughed again, throwing his back this time. To him this was the moment the gang had been waiting for. He offered Katsu to take him to the dojo, which he accepted. "This is going to be rich to see."

"Well, don't get them too mad. I still have to talk to Kamiya-san." Sano held out his hands in defense then put them behind his head as they walked.

Kenshin laid there for the longest time watching Kaoru sleep, her snuggled up to his warm body for extra heat. He brought his hand over and stroked her cheek gently, getting the hairs out of the way. Afterward, he slowly got out from under her, placing a kiss on her cheek as he got up. He fixed the gi back on which was still hanging around his waist, looking around the room.

He noticed something shiny in the corner of the room which seemed out of place. He started pulling his hair back into a ponytail as he walked over and examined it. He picked it up and looked at the diamond ring in his hand, not knowing that it was from the robbery. She hadn't done a thorough search of her room when she made the quick take back. He tilted his head in wonder as he placed it on the dresser and walked toward the kitchen.

Kaoru's eyes fluttered open at the smell of food drifting through the air. She sat up and ran through her hair slowly, fixing it into a smooth straight position. She held her hand to her head from the pounding, a back lash to have drunken so much the night before. She stood up and went over to her dresser and immediately recognized the diamond ring, cursing to herself as she picked it up. She threw it into a drawer just in case.

She picked out a much lighter fabricated kimono, putting it on slowly. She traced over the spots on her skin where Kenshin had gone over with his mouth. She sighed gleefully then pulled her hair back into a pony tail for the days wear. She walked out on to the porch to get a delightful ray of warmth onto her, the smell just as appetizing as always.

As she started getting closer to the kitchen she heard the dojo gates open. She looked back to see Sano and Katsu walk through, laughing and conversing about something. She looked at the kitchen one more time then decided to greet the men, knowing Kenshin would call when it was ready.

"Hey Jo-chan, you look fabulous this morning. Have a feisty night last night, I presume." Sano laughed as she smirked and ran her hands through her ponytail. He lifted his eyebrows a couple of times toward Katsu's direction. "See what did I tell you?"

"Sano you shouldn't be so presumptuous all the time. How do you know we even did anything last night?" She shook her hips to and fro as she talked to give it an edge. Sano cracked up again to think she thought he was that dense.

"Come one Jo-chan. It's practically radiating off you!" He laughed again and came over to her to give her a squeeze around the shoulders. "I'm proud of you. But seriously, I want all the details to give to the vixen lat…"

"Kamiya-san, if you don't mind me interrupting, I have to speak with you." Kaoru looked over at Katsu, who had a rather weighty looking bag slung over his shoulder. She shrugged off Sano's arm and walked over to him.

"What do you have there?" She pointed to the bag as he looked down. Maybe he was here to draw or something, seeing all the papers inside.

"It's what I'm here to talk to you about actually. If we could go into a room that is a bit more private for this discussion, it would be appreciated. What I'm about to ask might be hard for you to answer with more people then just me." Kaoru's eyebrows went up in fascination and curiosity. She held out her hand to her room and he walked forward. She led him to her room where they sat down beside the door, Kaoru closing the door behind her.

"So what exactly do you want from me, Katsu?" Kaoru waited for him to take the folders out of the bag. He held out the first folder and nodded to it. She opened it up slowly to see numerous pictures of different women, with no order of height, weight, race or class. They only had one thing in common and she let out a little gasp, to her great disappointment. She glanced up at the man in front of her, whose face grew very sullen. She knew Katsu had wanted that reaction. The women all had a similar mask placed on their face; the same mask that was now in storage in her closet.

"Answer just one question for me, Kaoru. I promise to keep your secret." She looked up from the pictures to Katsu. His face held a note of seriousness to it. She swallowed and shook her head. He pointed his finger at the mask. "Do you have…or should I say, are you that thief that stole this mask?"

"I…yes, that was me. I don't know what came over me, I promise. I had gone to see where Kenshin had went then all of a sudden there was this nagging in the back of mind. It was like the mask was…"

"Like the mask was calling to you. That's what you were going to say?" She nodded a bit as Katsu sighed. He watched as she got up and went over to the closet. She started rummaging on the bottom, everything hidden from sight. He took out the letter as she was searching and looked at the address. She came back over with the mask and placed it in front of him.

"This mask seems to hold a tight grasp on my heart. It would be very saddening to see it go."

"Kaoru-san, I received this in the mail shortly after I started researching Neko onna. I think who ever sent me this wanted you, the newest mask owner, to have it." He handed over the letter. Kaoru took it carefully, noting the beautiful brushstrokes in the handwriting. "Open it. I wanted to do so myself but knowing it really wasn't meant for me, it seemed the wrong thing to do."

Kaoru opened the envelope slowly. She took out a folded letter and some old newspaper clippings from around the world. She looked at all the foreign clippings, handing them over to Katsu since she couldn't understand them and began to read the letter.

"_To a special woman,_

_I don't know how to put this into words so that you will believe what I'm about to tell you. I'm hoping this letter reached you through that young journalist that was researching Neko onna's possible history. _

_You have probably been going through many changes you can't understand. You also are probably wondering how I know what I know. My friend, that mask has been carried through history by ca twomen; A special group of females that were chosen by a special breed of cat. _

_Mau's are a breed of cat with extraordinary powers. They were thought to be the messengers of Bast, the Egyptian cat goddess. Bast represents all the tenderness, caring and shyness but also the ferocity, forceful and cunning side of all women. You probably don't remember most of your special night. Few do remember such horrors. Do you wish for me to tell you what happened?_

_You died…." _

Kaoru let out a snort and put the letter down quickly, startling Katsu in the process. She shook her head and looked back down at the letter. This person must have been crazy. How could she have died that night if she was sitting right here reading the letter? She shook her head and began to read again.

"_You died but you were reborn through the powers of the Mau. Are you starting to remember, dear…?"_

Kaoru was in fact starting to remember. Her mind reeled back to that day when she first saw a strange looking cat roaming the neighborhood. It had been giving her a special sort of attention that week, only going to her when called. The fight she had with the Kendo master; her run in with the lady later that day. She had met her because of the cat.

"_The Mau chose to test you, to see if you were loyal in what you believed in. By passing her test she knew you were ready to be given a new life. She saw your unfortunate end fast approaching. She was there that night._

_She was the one who found your body that day. She breathed in a new life for you and threw away your old one. She brought out the gifts you need to survive in this world made for men."_

Kaoru saw the lightened room and the conversation of treachery echoing through her mind. It fast warded to seeing two men looking over her, each with their own bokken_._ She felt the sharp blow to her skull. She jerked her hand up to her head, which started to throb. Katsu started calling her name but memories interrupted him. She saw them carry her body to the swamps, saw them laughing. She remembered the cat as it padded across her body and gave her a new life.

"I remember Katsu...I remember what happened that night." She looked down at the letter with shock and a sickness took hold over her stomach. She read the rest of the letter.

"_I hope this information has solaced you in telling you what you needed to know. I do hope that the life Bast has given you proves to be one of great value. You are special; no bonds or limits in your society are put on you. Live freely and be who you are, and you will not be caged by any matter."_

The letter ended with that simple reminder. The letter itself had not been signed, probably to protect the writer. She put the letter down slowly and carefully, her hands shaking with fear and excitement. Katsu looked t her funny before picking up the letter and reading it thoroughly. He shook his head as he read it a couple of more times.

"This is how Neko-onna came to be. But does that mean I'm not Kaoru anymore." She looked up confused at Katsu. She sighed as he put the letter down, shaking his head.

"You are Kaoru. Not one moment can take that away from you. But you are also now, Neko-onna." She looked up at him and smiled inwardly. Well that made her feel a little better but some sadness lingered. She picked up the mask and held it in her hands, feeling the textures and contours of it.

"Katsu you can't tell anyone about this. No one, promise?" She looked up to him, knowing fully that a story of this size was hard to come by as a journalist. But if the word got out then someone in the police would put two and two together. She waited, growing nervous at the silence. After a minute he shook his head in understanding.

"I won't tell anyone I promise."

"Thank you Katsu. I can see why Sano can call you a true friend. And as hard as it is for me, please tell Kenshin that he has to leave. Bring him with you guys so he doesn't feel so alone if you must." She looked down at the pictures as Katsu stood up. He bowed as he opened her door. She felt a tear go down her cheek as she heard talking from the dojo. She heard the men shuffling and closed the gates behind them.

She stood up after a minute and walked over to her door to stare at the midday sun. All of this was so difficult to grasp. She thought for once, Kenshin and her could both have a normal life. After last night she was almost certain of it. But knowing all this, how could she ever have a normal life again. Her freedom rang to her through the sky. She couldn't possibly have both at once, could she?

* * *

Kaoru sat down on her roof, her new "Neko-onna" suit now donned. She watched as the sun set, its light painting a multitude of colors across the sky. She heard a familiar purring from behind to see the Egyptian Mau walking up to her. She stroked it softly from the head down. It jumped into her lap and watched the sun as it disappeared under the horizon, leaving the two in the dark.

"Hey kitty, I never got to thank you for saving my life. I'm very grateful for what you did." She talked softly into its ear. It seemed to understand and gave out a little mew in reply. She smiled and stroked its fur again. "But somebody out in that city killed me, and I plan on finding out whom."


	8. The beginning connection

**The Beginning Connection**

Kenshin looked out the window for the longest time. He was so miserable it was actually showing now. His usually well kept emotions were boiling over the pot. He didn't understand Kaoru at all anymore. If she was so bent on getting him to bed, why did she make him leave?

He stood up after a while to go put on another pot of water for the tea. He looked out the window again only this time to see Saitō making his way to the door. Kenshin startled, almost spilling the pot's contents in his lap. After he steadied it he ran over to the door. He let Saitō in suspiciously and watched as he looked around.

"His room is as messy as his fighting habits. This place is awful." Saitō noted disgustingly. Kenshin smiled a little. He was always insulting Sano one way or another. Thank god Sano was out for the night. "But I didn't come here to make fun of the rooster head. I have to speak with you about something."

"To me? What do you need to speak to me for? Is Kaoru alright?! He got a little panicked after Saitō didn't answer and just picked up a dirty plate and flipped around in his hands. He sighed and threw it into the wash basin. "Saitō, answer me…"

"Well this does concern the Kamiya girl. I dropped by and couldn't find either her or you. I thought the baka would know something, but apparently I don't need him anymore."

"Get to the point, Saitō." Kenshin folded his arms annoyingly. Saitō let out a grin at the Battousai's impatience. He lit a cigarette and took in a whiff of it then pointed toward the tea pot which was boiling over. Kenshin cursed and yanked the tea pot off the fire, almost spilling it on himself again. He made his tea then looked back at Saitō.

"No thanks. I'm here on business, not a casual stroll in the park. You've heard about the theft at the money exchange haven't you?" He took the cigarette out and blew out a puff of smoke over toward Kenshin's direction. Kenshin waved it away disgusted.

"Yes, this one has heard rumors. Neko-onna, I believe that's what they've decided to called her. What does this have to do with me?" He took a sip of his tea carefully, testing the temperature with his lip.

"I'm getting to it, be patient. We have few key descriptions about the women in subject. But the main thing is that she carried a bokken." Kenshin got a shiver down his spine and looked at Saito from his cup. He had a bad feeling at where this conversation was leading. "We do have the usual case, black hair, dark blue eyes. Her figure was slender but not too thin."

"So you want me to ask Kaoru-dono if she has met anyone practicing kendo in the area. Or do you want me to catch someone for you; I find that hard to believe." Kenshin had put down his arms and was now listening intently, hoping that this was the case. His hope sank however as Saitō just stared at him.

"I don't want you to say a word of this to Kamiya-san. She…is our main suspect." Kenshin slammed the cup of tea down hard on the ground; it even made Saitō startled, a bit.

"How dare you accuse Kaoru-dono of theft? Her sword style and practice all work on abiding the law and not hurting people. Why would she go against her beliefs after so many years?!" His eyes flashed amber as Saito merely sucked at the cigarette again.

"I don't know why she would do it. All I know is that she is now a suspect. The picture that the men described Neko-onna as doesn't give her any help." He took out the drawing the police drew and handed it to Kenshin. He looked it over quickly and shook his head, handing the letter back.

"There could be tons of women who look like this."

"But there are not too many with a bokken and who look like this. We've narrowed it down two 2 possible people." Kenshin sighed and put his fingers up to his forehead. He didn't even know this Neko-onna and already she was grating on his last nerve.

"What does any of this have to do with me?"

"Good question. We would, naturally, send our own men to spy on Kamiya but she would get suspicious. It's her nature. Now seeing you on the other hand, is a different story."

"You want me to spy on Kaoru-dono? You've gone too low this time, Saitō." Kenshin eyes switched from violet to amber in seconds, his usual glare giving off even more of a deadly ki. "I won't do it."

"You'll choose the girl over the law?" Saitō raised his eyebrow and took the cigarette out of his mouth.

"She's innocent until proven guilty. You haven't caught her doing anything wrong, therefore I will not help the police arrest Kaoru. That's the end of it Saitō, now get out." Kenshin stood and walked over to the door where he opened the door. Saito grunted and put his cigarette out in Kenshin's tea cup then walked over to the door.

"You're just making me do it the hard way. If I were you, I would try figuring this out before you have to hear it through the media." With that, Saito walked out of the shack and toward the main road. Kenshin dumped the rest of the tea and water into the gutter then headed out on his own. He was going to go ask Master Roku a few questions, despite the time of night.

He muttered to himself as he walked along the alley ways. His head was still swimming in concern at Kaoru's sudden detachment from everyone. All he needed now was some thief to ruin his woman's reputation in the city as well. It didn't help that she didn't have an alibi to get her out of this mess. The night of the robbery he had left her all alone in the dojo. Sano had come too early in the night to be an alibi either.

Mean while, Kaoru was about looking for anything that could help lead her to her killers. She went from dojo to dojo looking for the men she had seen in the memory. But none of the dojo's had them. She took out her list and scratched out the second to last one on the list. She looked down to see the last dojo on the other side of a town. She saw a flash of some guy yell then spit at her feet before coming back to reality. So, that was master Roku who came to taunt her.

She tucked the sheet into the bandages just bellow her belly button and started heading for the other side of town. She jumped down into an alley between a sake house and a gambling house. She was surprised to see a guy stumble out of the door, laughing as hard as he could muster. Her mind again flashed back to the two men. The one on the left was now standing right before her.

She made a clucking noise in the back of her throat in agitation. They not only killed her but they were a bunch of drunks as well, could she keep any more of her honor from slipping away? The noise made the guy whirl around. He smiled greedily and looked her up and down; the bare skin was just calling to him. She smiled an innocent smile and began walking over to him. The guy licked his lips and she got even closer, her hand reaching for her back.

As he went up to grab her, she grabbed the handle of the bokken and brought down between his head and shoulder. The guy's mouth gaped open in shock as he stumbled backwards, his hand shooting to the place where the bokken had landed. Her growled and picked up a metal pipe from the ground. She held up her hand and waved to him, leading him on.

He charged drunk and blind, lifting the pipe about his head. She dodged the first two swings and blocked the third one with her bokken. She then quickly slid it down the pole to his stomach. He groaned and dropped to his knees. Kaoru walked over and grabbed him by the hair.

"Do you remember a couple of nights ago, when you killed that girl. She was a nice girl and my friend, why did you do it?" Before he could answer she brought her hand across his cheek hard. He looked back up to see her smiling.

"I don't know. She heard something she wasn't suppose to hear about our master's plans. She shouldn't have been snooping in other people's dojo."

"So Roku is covering it up, is he? And he thought he could get away with murder." He looked up at her confused, as if he didn't know anything about Roku. She smiled and got up, letting him up as well. As she turned she heard a clicking sound behind her. The guy had had a hidden gun up his sleeve. Before he could pull the trigger, she backed up into him, getting his arm between the crook of her arm and flipping him over her shoulder forcefully, dislocating his shoulder. She then gave a powerful thrust kick to his head, knocking him out cold.

She picked up her bokken which she had thrown away to use her arms for the flip, putting it back on her back. She looked back when she heard the doors of the gambling joint open, two men stepping out and complaining about their losses. When they turned around they found one unconscious man in the middle of the alley, no one else. Kaoru looked from the roof as the two guys helped bring the man back inside before she got up and started running toward the last dojo on her list.

She ran along the rooftops carefully, trying not to knock off the loose tiles. She scaled the last house then looked down into the dojo below. The lights were out, as to be expected at the time of night she was out. She dropped stealthily into the dojo's garden. Unlike the Kamiya garden full of vegetables, this garden was arranged and flowered with all different assortments of flowers and fruits. It was a sign that this dojo master had wealth in his background.

She sneered as she crushed some of the flowers as she ran up to the porch and headed for the Master bedroom. She was careful going by the doors, cracking each one slowly and peeking inside to see who was inside. Most of the dojo it seemed housed it students, making it not daily but part of their total lives.

She got to the last room as she made it around the property. She slipped through quietly as she entered the main bedroom. She couldn't really see anything; it was that dark in the room. As she made her way around the room she suddenly tripped over something soft. She quickly felt the object, realizing it was a body the moment she felt skin.

She went to go back when her other hand slipped into something slick and gooey. She put her hand up to her nose; a metallic tang went through her nose and into her mouth. The blood was everywhere. Suddenly she heard someone come running down the hall and slid the door open.

She saw a glimpse of the scene around her before the uproar began. She was kneeling over a younger body. It looked to be one of the students that resided in the dojo. Blood was running all down her right arm. The guy yelled, waking up the rest of the students and alarming them of what was happening. Before the boy could do anything further, she ran past him and headed toward the door. The Master and his wife weren't in the dojo; she realized this as she finally caught sight of the gate.

A couple of the older students came around from the other side of the dojo and began attacking her. She quickly blocked them and pushed them back. She didn't want to start a fight between them. This grudge was for their master only. She tried reaching the door as fast as she could, knocking mores students out of the way.

Kenshin walked toward the dojo slowly, when suddenly he heard a scream pierce the silence of the night from the dojo. He narrowed his eyes and began sprinting toward the dojo. He caught sight of the dojo doors and was half way their when a woman came running out of the dojo, the men chasing her telling him to stop the murderer. She turned around and Kenshin finally realized that it was the one and only Neko onna. He felt his rage boil inside of him and take over his actions.

She stopped suddenly when she saw Kenshin now running full speed toward her. She quickly pulled the bokken from her back just in time to block the sakabato from hitting her in the shoulder. She stumbled back from Kenshin's blow and steadied herself. Kenshin whirled around quickly and brought his sword to her waist where she barely blocked, again stumbling to the side from impact of the two swords.

He noticed at once that she was keeping in pace with his blows, but only just. Her reaction time was quicker then most normal people. That allowed her sword just enough time to get between herself and Kenshin's god speed attacks. He could tell though that she was not yet a master at kendo.

Seeing as he wanted to end this quickly and bring this woman to justice, he flipped his sword around to enable cutting through the bokken. He attacked with Dou Ryu Sen, cutting her bokken in half as she tried to block his attack again. He didn't notice that the tip of the sword had caught on her cheek.

As he turned around to finish the attack, he was bewildered to find no one standing there. The bokken had been discarded to the side and the woman was now running toward the nearest building. He watched as she ascended the side of the building before taking off after her. He ran after her but after a while lost sight as she quickly maneuvered around corners and alleys. He stomped his foot out in disgust as he let the murderer get away.


	9. Laundry and Letters

**Laundry and Letters**

Kaoru walked back to her room after a long run back from Roku's dojo. She winced as she slowly took off the mask, carefully trying not to touch the bleeding wound. She grumbled as she fingered the nick in the mask where the blade had lifted off her face. She also grumbled at Kenshin's bad timing. Now he was going to think she murdered that guy.

She began thinking of excuses as to why would have this gash on her cheek. She dabbed at it with a wet towel, wincing as it stung a bit. At least she knew that Kenshin didn't see his sword cutting her. She would be able to get away. She would blame it on cooking, where she made most of her injuries.

She held onto her cheek until it stopped bleeding then bandaged it. She put the medical supplies away then went to her room. She slipped off the rest of her costume and threw it into the bottom of closet hurriedly, putting her night garments on afterward. She quickly undid her futon and slipped under the blankets, her hand going to the empty space.

She was tired but her mind kept returning to Kenshin. How was she going to be able to figure out this mystery if he was sticking his noise in it too? She flipped over onto her back and rested her hands on her face. She was going to just have to avoid being detected by him, which was the only logical plan she could come up with. After that, she slipped into a peaceful slumber.

In the morning, she woke with the sun and slipped into a light purple kimono with jasmine flowers running its course along the dress. She made breakfast and ate quickly, wanting to go out for the day. She wanted to know how bad the damage to Neko onna's reputation was.

She put the plate aside for later and walked out the dojo gates, locking it behind her just to be safe. She walked a couple of steps before hearing someone call out her name. She turned surprised to see Kenshin walked toward her, an envelope tight in his hand.

"Ah this one finally found you Kaoru-dono. It's the money I owe you. Like I promised Megumi, I won't let you do anything until that wound on your head is completely healed. What are you doing…" he stopped mid sentence as he finally noticed her face. She looked at him confused as he closed his mouth and brought his hand up, fingering the cut on her cheek. She let out an "Oh" as she remembered the now scaring cut on her cheek from last night.

"My cooking skills just keep getting worse by the day. You would think you wouldn't be able to cut your self while cutting vegetables. Only me, right Kenshin?" She brought her hand up and took Kenshin's in her own; bringing it away from her face. Kenshin made a funny face and shook his head.

"This one thinks you need some lessons soon. I would be willing to teach you some tricks or two." Kaoru smiled slightly. He was taking the bait. She sometimes wondered if he truly was Battousai. Then she remembered last night of the speed and skill that always brought her back to reality. "So what are you doing out so early."

"Oh I've been…a little depressed lately. I was hoping that a day out would make me feel better." Kenshin tilted his head as she took the money and put it into her sleeve. "Would you like to come with me?"

"This one would like that. I have to go to the market. Sano barely has anything decent to eat in his house." Kenshin and Kaoru stated walking toward the Market place together. Kaoru suddenly noticed that Kenshin seemed to be on edge. She threw it to the wind, blaming it on last night's Neko onna incident.

Kenshin looked around for any sign that the police would be around. He wouldn't allow them to arrest Kaoru for last night's accident. He kept his hand on the hilt of his word, acting like it to be a prop for his arm. He kept talking to Kaoru, keeping the conversation fluttery and cool.

"So, how is living with Sano?" Kaoru looked over to Kenshin who had gone back to a sullen mode. He looked at her then put his hand to his chin.

"Well, I'm never bored. He's always drinking or gambling. And when he isn't around I tend to clean the place up." Kaoru laughed loudly.

"I bet the place wasn't even livable before you moved in. Sano isn't one for cleaning." She laughed again and Kenshin shrugged his shoulders. They walked into the Market place, which was now starting to get filled with people. Someone shouted to them from across the street, his hands waving a paper in the air. Kaoru turned to walk over to them when Kenshin accidentally stepped into her way.

"Kaoru-dono, we should go visit Tae. She would be happy to have guests in the morning." Kaoru frowned as he stepped in her way again on accident as he tried to get around her.

"Well, can't I at least get the news? I like to hear my daily goss…"

"No!" Kaoru stopped and stared at Kenshin. She gaped at him in shock at yelling at her. Surely he wasn't so nervous about Neko onna's incident that he thought she was in danger as well. Kenshin scratched his head and stumbled over a few words.

"I mean, Kaoru-dono the news surely isn't that important right now." He looked past her to see Saitō standing in the shadows, watching their every move. Saito growled as Kenshin interfered with his suspect's actions.

Kenshin grabbed her arm into his and started gently forcing her to walk with him toward the Akabeko. She looked at him as she began to struggle to walk right with her arm in an uncomfortable link with his. She looked around and her eyes widened as she saw Saitō glare at her from the corner. She looked back at Kenshin then swallowed hard.

Kenshin looked over to her and frowned as he saw her look back over her shoulder nervously again. They got to the Akabeko and let Kaoru enter first then him. They walked over to the back table and sat down. She looked back up suspenseful at Kenshin. He smiled, though it gave off this sad touch to it.

Tsubame came over and took their order quickly, but didn't manage to stay long. The business was picking up this morning and she didn't have time to talk. Kenshin and Kaoru sat there for a few minutes in silence, pondering on the few moments that had just happened. Kenshin's gaze had moved toward the table but Kaoru's wavered at his face. It looked as serene as always but living with him for a year gave her the knowledge to know that wasn't always the case within. Finally she let out a frustrated sigh and shook her head.

"Kenshin, what is going on?" She asked in a hushed whisper. He looked back up at her startled then smiled again knowingly. "Why is Saitō-san here? I thought he was stationed in Hokkaido?"

"This one should have known nothing sessha did would stop you from noticing, Kaoru-dono. He's here investigating the Neko onna case." Kenshin and Kaoru went silent as Tsubame came back and served them their tea. Once she had left, he went on to describing the night before. Kaoru, already knowing these facts, shook her head in fake amazement.

"You don't think she actually killed that boy, do you Kenshin? What if…someone was setting her up?"

"This one isn't sure, Kaoru-dono. But why would a dojo set up this thief in such a way? They have no motive to want her dead." Kaoru sighed and looked at the table. He was right, of course. The dojo didn't know that she was still alive and acting as Neko onna. That boy was killed for another reason. She thought hard about what she had heard the night she was killed like him.

"Kenshin, how well do you know what's going on in the government?"

"The Meiji government? Why would you want to know something like that Kaoru-dono?" Kenshin looked at her intently as her mind drifted and her eyes slowly glazed over as she thought hard. Kaoru thought about how her next question should be formed but every thing she thought of would just make him suspicious of her connection to the robber. She realized her mistake quickly and dropped the subject fast.

"Oh nothing really, I was just wondering if you kept tabs with some of the people from your….past." She looked up at him to see him still staring at her unnervingly. She sighed then looked over as Tsubame came over and placed their food in front of them. Kenshin thanked her quietly and turned his head to watch Kaoru eat. Her attitude was confusing him to no end. It was as if she was turning into another person. "So, Kenshin, would you like to come back to the dojo for a while today?"

"What for Kaoru dono?" He shifted and waited for her answer. She fiddled with her chopsticks lately before she sighed and slapped them to the table.

"To be honest Kenshin, my laundry is getting way to high I can't even do it all myself." She flushed as she told him part of the reason. His old room had become a storage bin for all the clothes she had worn since he left the dojo. You couldn't even walk into it without tripping over something. "I haven't done laundry since you left."

"Kaoru-dono?! Surely you must have done some of it?" Kaoru looked up at him and grinned mischievously. The plan to make him forget the subject worked. She laughed as she shook her head no as Kenshin sighed out a long breath out. After the air of tension was finally settled, they ate their lunch quickly and talked about their days of past.

After they were done, Kenshin told Tsubame to take their bill out of his pay as they walked outside. Kaoru and Kenshin walked backed toward the dojo together. Kenshin kept his guard up, watching out for any police or Saitō himself that would try to tangle with Kaoru and himself. After sensing nothing in the surrounding area, he relaxed and walked closer to kaoru. She sensed it and smiled at her new senses and how they could finally help decode Kenshin's hidden messages.

"It's been a while since I did laundry here, that it has." Kenshin pondered as Kaoru opened up the front gate and let them both in. She closed it behind them and Kenshin placed his feeble knapsack he carried to work on the porch step. She led him to his old room and opened the door. Kenshin shook his head and Kaoru smiled at him.

"Now you see why I needed your help, don't you?" Kenshin laughed and the two began sorting out the clothes. After they had them into neat piles Kenshin carried out the first load to the tub in the courtyard. He got the bucket from the side of the well and began Filling up the cleaning tub with water and soap as Kaoru brought out the other loads. "We still have to file out the clothes in my room as well."

"Kaoru-dono, if your going to live alone, you need to learn to do this more frequently." They walked into her room and gingerly began picking up the clothes that were now being scattered in her room. After a few minutes, Kaoru sighed and stood up, stretching her arms above her head.

"Hey Kenshin, I'm going to go get some snacks. I'll be right back ok." She walked out the door as Kenshin shifted over to pick up the stuff underneath him. After a few more minutes of picking up the clothes he sat beside her dresser to start picking out and pilling up the clothes into more loads. As he drifted over the blacks of the clothes he noticed something sticking out at the bottom of her dresser. Shaking his head, he got up and opened the drawer to clean what was inside and close it properly.

He slowly began taking out the black skirt, sandals and wrappings as his brain tried to register what he saw. He held the fabric in his hands before putting it down and taking a look at his hands. Though most of it was dried onto the material itself some of the wetter blood had rubbed off onto his skin. Kenshin let out a raspy breath before taking out the rest of the items of the drawer before finding something hard among the material. He slowly unwrapped another skirt to find the famous Neko onna's lifeless eyes staring up at him.

He slowly wrapped the mask back up in the clothing and placed it back inside along with one of the costumes. He shook his head before grabbing some of the other material. He stood up quickly and stumbled out the door swiftly. He stopped once more at the gates to look behind toward the dojo before setting off to Saitō's office to find out if it was truly Neko onna ensemble.

* * *

Kaoru finally finished brewing the second cup of tea, and put both cups onto a tray along with the snacks; she picked it up gracefully and walked around the corners swiftly to get back to her room and Kenshin. She walked around the corner to her room and opened the door.

"Kenshin I made you some…." She looked around her empty room and found no traces of Kenshin. She frowned and put the tray down. She walked out to the edge of the porch and failed to find him anywhere in the area. She shook her head and walked back to the step where Kenshin had left his knapsack sitting there. Before she could walk back to her room to fume, she noticed something white fluttering against her porch beam. It was a letter addressed to her.


	10. Deciever

This one is SOOOO sorry it took me so long to write. I was having some issues with life, almost as bad as Kenshin's!!!! (minus the killing) I'm trying to finish this up as quick as possible. I hope this chapter makes up for lost time!!

This one does not own either Rurouni Kenshin or Cat woman!!! I wouldn't want to own them either. The makers did a good job themselves! *bows to Watsuki-sama*

**Deceiver**

Kaoru took a quick glance back to her empty room before walking up to the pillar, the letter flapping in the wind as if taunting her. She watched it flutter a couple of times before she yanked the dagger out of the wood and held the letter in her hands, flipping it around in her hands a couple of times.

The letter was on plain rice paper. The addressing told no sign of who it originally came from, it simply stated her name. It was sealed on the back with a simple wax mold, the insignia on it looking foreign to her, though it looked familiar in some form but she couldn't put a name to it. She ran her thumb over it slowly before pulling it off and opening up to see the contents inside. The text of the letter was clean and well written, signs of a wealthy and educated person. She started to skim over it.

Kamiya-san,

My name is Nomane Akori; you might not recognize my name, as we have only met for a brief time. But in that short time you showed courage and independence not common for woman in our day and age.

I write this letter in the greatest urgency. I know who you become at night. Neko-onna is not someone I fear but am inspired by. You face your adversaries with grace and astuteness.

I know you are not responsible for the death of our honored student Kiba, but I know who is. My husband, Roku, has lost his humanity and reason to logic. He plots against our mother country and will stop at nothing to get what he wants.

I am scared for me and my students. I fear what he will do to me when he figures out I have learned of his devious and malicious ways. Please, Kamiya-san, I am asking you to help me get to safety before he figures this all out. Come as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

Nomane-san

She stared at the name. The woman's face appeared in her mind from the alleyway behind the marketplace. She read the letter again then dashed to her room, a sly grin forming over her lips in wonder and glee. She started putting on the pieces to her costume while thinking. This was perfect for her. She now had the evidence to bring justice upon Roku Not only did the letter imply Roku's involvement but once she got a statement from Akori-san, it would piece everything together and He would be off for all the evil he had done. It would make up for her own murder that she couldn't get justice for.

She walked back on to the porch while tying her hair up with the black ribbon and looked at the tray of food and tea on the floor, frowning in confusion. She would have to figure out Kenshin's sudden and mysterious disappearance later. From the sound of the letter, she didn't have much time left before Roku placed everything together and got a hold of Akori-san before she did. She strapped the wooden bokken to her back and darted to the fence, where she then jumped to the roof of her neighbor's house.

She made her way around quickly, being careful not to be noticed by the commoners and sticking to the shadows of day as best as she could. She scaled the tiled roofs with ease, her mind wandering and wrapping around the idea of a much younger Kenshin doing the exact same thing, years ago while still in his hitokiri years. She frowned slightly as she thought of his reactions if he ever found out who she was turning out to be. She sighed and landed by Nomane's neighbor's roof.

* * *

Kenshin walked slowly to the police head quarters in shock. He just couldn't imagine his sweet Kaoru murdering someone, especially one that practiced Kendo. He knew she worried about the arts, the fad of being a samurai slowly diminishing in the new age of Meiji. What affects the whole of the culture also affected her own dojo and income.

He also wondered what in this world, after so much he had been through with this gentle yet fierce kendo master, could bring her from her truths and force her to kill relentlessly. He just couldn't see it. Yet, there in her room laid the evidence to finally catch the culprit Neko-onna. He couldn't shake the evidence off no matter how hard he tried denying it to himself.

"You were there the night the student was murdered. This one fought Neko-, I mean, Kaoru-dono right after she jumped from the dojo wall at the time of his death." He sighed and gripped the handle of his sakabato loosely, remembering the fight that now seemed so strange to him. He hadn't really noticed that Kaoru had become so excellent in Kendo. He remembered all her practices and kendo fights, and not once did she show this brilliance that she showed in the fight that night. Her senses seemed equivalent to his own. That was saying a lot, Hiko practically made him wild to hone those skills and even still has to go to the forest and re use them so they wouldn't become rusty.

He walked into the police station and up to the front desk where Chief Uramura sat, looking over a smaller case. He quickly looked up and smiled upon seeing Kenshin walk up to him. He quickly dropped it as he saw that it was all business. Kenshin's face had formed hard mask to hide his truly feelings when ever he was out on grim business, everyone in the police station knew of it

"Chief, this one needs to know if Fujita-san is currently available. It is of utmost importance. It's about the case against Neko-onna"

"Of course, Himura-san. I'll go get him right now." The chief quickly removed himself from the seat and ran down the hall towards the detectives office was currently being held. Kenshin walked a bit further toward the hall then stood waiting. A few minutes later the chief returned. "Just go straight down the hall. It's the last door to the left. He wants this in confidence."

Kenshin nodded once toward Uramura-san before heading quickly to Saitō's room. He didn't want to be here and he was repulsed by what he had to do. But the Kaoru he had known would have wanted the criminal caught and put away before more harm was done. He was going to do right by her last true self. He quickly opened the door and hurried himself in, closing the door behind him.

"I hear you have some new information for me about the Neko-onna case. I ready to hear it." Saitō said, Leaning back in his chair and lighting a cigarette. She let out a puff then looked at Kenshin's grim face. "From your expression, it can't be anything good."

"It's not. I have found that you were telling the truth Saitō. Kaoru-dono had asked me to help her with laundry this morning." Saitō gave a small grunt, shaking his head in disgust. The once legendary Battousai was now called on to do laundry. He was horrified. "Anyway. While I was going through her room and picking up the pieces that needed to be washed, this one found Neko-onna's suit and mask in Kaoru-dono's drawer."

"And you are sure that wasn't planted to make her out to be the criminal?"

"This one is not sure but no one besides us knows who the suspects are in this case. How would one know who to plant the evidence on? Plus before hand, a couple of days ago while I was with Kaoru-dono, I found a diamond ring in Kaoru's room. I believe it to be one of the rings still missing from the burglary." Kenshin looked down to the floor in embarrassment. Who had he been with that night? Was it his Kaoru or that murderer that was now wandering the streets? He let out a depressed sighed and continued. "No matter what Kaoru means to this one, this can not go unlooked. The Kaoru I know would not have wanted us to stop."

"Indeed. Is the girl still at the dojo or has she found out about this?"

"This one just came from the dojo after finding the costume. I believe she is still at the dojo now. She has enough food for the week and there are no lessons being held today, she has no reason to go out."

"Let's hope so. The sooner we get her in, the lesser punishment she receives." Saitō stood from his desk and quickly strode around the deck and towards the door, sword in hand. Kenshin stood in his way for a minute before side stepping and allowing Saitō to take the lead.

"This one is sorry Kaoru-dono. But your rain of blood has to be stopped and get you the help you need." He whispered quietly to himself before turning and walking with Saitō toward the Kamiya dojo.

* * *

Kaoru carefully jumped down from the neighbor's roof then scaled the wall to the dojo, trying to make as little noise as possible in case someone was on the other side of the vicinity. She jumped to the ground gracefully and stealthily. She quickly darted behind the nearest tree and crouched their, leaning on her hands against the rough bark. She slowly gazed around the tree, watching the area with sharpened senses she had finally honed. She scanned the dojo, locating several students on the opposite end of the house and the cook in the kitchen. But she found none that would challenge her

She slipped from her hiding spot behind the tree and tiptoed to the porch and jumped up onto it. She soon started to investigate it thoroughly, listening or feeling for any foot steps that she might have missed in her earlier scan. After finding nothing, she slid the shoji doors open to the inner hallway and snuck into the house as she ran silently to the master bedroom. She slipped by the other rooms before stopping at the double shoji doors. She cracked the door an inch and peered inside, trying to locate any hidden danger in the room.

After sensing no kenki or movement in the room, she prepared herself to enter but stopped when she heard a noise from behind. Kaoru grabbed her bokken handle and spun around, finding Akori standing behind her in a non-chalante fashion. Kaoru got up from her attacking stance and stood to face her, unnerved by her unusual calmness.

"Akori-san? Where is Roku? You sounded so desperate in your letter that I cam as quickly as I could." She watched as Akori's face slipped a devious smirk before walking past Kaoru. She seductively put her hands on the shoji and opened the doors all the way before moving aside elegantly, allowing Kaoru to freely enter the room.

"Ah yes, you are wondering about my dear Roku-chan." Kaoru gave her a confused glare and took a couple of steps into the room. Her eyes widened and slipped to Akori's face, which was watching her back intently, and her feet came to a halt. Her gaze quickly leapt from Akori's face to the body of Roku lying just in front of her, a pool of blood now draining around Roku's corpse. Kaoru's mouth opened as if trying to form words and looked back into Akori's eyes in horror. "As you can see, Roku-chan won't be joining out little rendezvous. He isn't feeling too well, are you dear?"

"What is this, Nomane-san?" Kaoru tensed up as dread seeped into every fiber of her being and mind, now regretting ever coming here. She quickly figured out that this wasn't woman wasn't following the same charts as herself. Her eyes darted to the corpse one more, the lips of the man now turning a cold blue. "How did you…?"

"Oh come now Kaoru-chan, you didn't think you were the only woman in this town with experience in Martial arts?" She lifted her hand to her mouth and let out a tiny polite giggle that turned Kaoru's stomach. Kaoru then followed Akori's hand as it went inside her clothes and pulled out a small dagger caked with drying blood. "My husband was such a true and courageous man. He learned too much about my plans and decided to thwart them. After finding over hearing my plot, he had me followed every where, even the day we met in that back alley."

Kaoru looked at Akori in confusion then back at Roku's body. She let out a small gasp and swayed, her eyes closing as the rest of her memory came back to her. Memories of the meeting, where the traitorous informant was leaking out important information to other governments before her death. Then the last clue, the faceless demon in the background in her last seconds of life. She had seen slender legs and small ankles and feet. She hadn't realized she had seen Akori that night and not Roku.

"Ah, from the look on your face, I would say the last of your memories of that night have finally been returned to you. "Kaoru snapped her eyes open and her head turned to toward Akori. Kaoru's eyes turned into slits as she glared at the malignant woman. "I am still at a loss at how you your survived that blow to the head. I could have sworn my goons head quickly killed then disposed of you that night. "

"You- you were the one in the background? I was so sure it was Roku…my god." Kaoru felt rage build up in her. The woman before her had played her for a fool and used her as just another pawn in her game. She had ruined her life. She flipped her bokken out and sprang forward, attacking first.

Akori quickly dodged to the left side and sliced sideways with the dagger. It caught Kaoru's scarred cheek, leaving a wound diagonal to Kenshin's wound to make it identical with his. She then managed to throw the dagger at Kaoru. Kaoru quickly intercepted and grabbed the dagger by the handle before it could land in her shoulder.

Kaoru stumbled back, her hands pressed against the wound on her cheek to stop the bleeding. Akori grinned slyly one last time before jumping toward the door and flinging it open, letting out a high pitched scream of fictional horror in the process. Kaoru's head snapped right as she heard feet running and a police whistle sound through the air at the gates.

Kaoru cursed and looked around quickly at the perfect trap Akori had laid. As the feet grew louder, Akori ran over to the man she had just killed moments ago and started sobbing and whining, begging Kaoru to spare her in a dramatic scene. Kaoru shook and dashed out of the room, startling a group of students and the few police officers there. She looked at the dagger in her hand before dropping it, shaking her head as she ran the opposite direction. She jumped the wall before they had time to get their bearings to attack.

Kaoru kept her pace, wanting to our run all of her problems. After a few miles, she slowed to a halt and took short shallow breathes trying to regain composure. It just kept getting worse and worse in her situation. Now everyone in Tokyo would think of Neko-onna as nothing but a murderer. The men had a clear view of her face, seeing the wounds on her cheek. She had no where to go. She brought her hand back up to her wounded cheek and then back again to see fresh blood on her skin. She looked around to se that she had cleared the town in a few minutes, landing herself in the slum district of Tokyo.

She jumped a rickety wooden fence and snuck into one of the run down bedrooms. She stripped of her dirty black bandages and switched her clothes for a clean, worn out cotton kimono. She grabbed her stuff and went on her way. She wandered around aimlessly, having no where to go and scared of confronting her dojo in the state she was in.

She slunk near the shadows, cringing when someone would get too near to her. Her eyes were glazed over and confusion swirled in them among other things. She didn't know if she could keep hiding, the guilt of seeing those two men lying dead on the floor was almost too much. She didn't know if she should go back to her dojo or skip town. She looked down the peaceful river as she stopped on the bridge to the side her dojo laid on.

The woman in the reflection in the calm water looked tired and hopeless. Nothing could save the woman that was starring back at her. Blood flowed freely down her chin and into her kimono from the wound on her cheek, doing nothing to stop the flow. She headed out again and trudged the rest of the way home. She walked up slowly to her gate and stared at it for a moment. She opened it slowly and shuffled inside, dead tired and about to drop. She stopped and looked up from the ground, hugging her parcel to her chest.

Kenshin and Saitō stood in front of the porch with faces made of stone.


	11. Caged

**Caged**

Kaoru stood stock still as she assessed the rigidness of the two men standing in front of her. Saitō was his usual self, grim and steady in his stance. It was Kenshin's expression that made her wince. His face was a stone mask but his eyes held a mass of confusion and anger.

"Kaoru-dono, we know…" Before Kenshin could even finish, Saitō put a hand up to his chest and pushed him back to tell him to back down. He took a long drag of is shortened cigarette before flicking it to the ground and stepping on it to put it out. He held is katana by the hilt and stepped forward.

"Kamiya Kaoru, you are under arrest for breaking and entering, theft and 2nd degree murder. Please drop your load and put your hands up into the air so we can see you are unarmed." Kaoru looked at Saitō numbly, not responding to him in the slightest.

Her eyes darted around the area and she contemplated for a few moments whether she had enough space in between them and time to get away. She knew by now that her skills enabled her to do so. She could get away from both of these legendary men if it was worth it. Saitō took another step in her direction, his hand tightening around the hilt of his sword menacingly.

"Be smart, Kamiya-san. The best choice for you right now is to give up. We now know that it is you running around as Neko-onna. Even if you did escape, we now have every exit to the city blocked off and the borders are being patrolled. Drawing up on this now would be most unwise."

"I could get away…" She told Saitō as she felt her resistance slip away. The clothes slipped from her arms and landed in a heap at her feet, her arms and hands rising slowly to let them know she was doing as instructed. She let out a shallow sigh, not noticing that she had been holding her breathe since she had walked into the vicinity. She felt as two more officers took her back, blocking off the entrance.

"I have no doubt in my mind that you could, Kamiya-san. I'm sure you could slip past both me and the Battousai with ease as you are now…" She dropped her head and closed her eyes in pain. She didn't want to get away from Kenshin. She had been through so much with this man; she wanted to tell him that it wasn't her. She would never kill anyone. "…if you truly wanted too, that is."

"If I truly wanted…" She tipped her head just enough so her gaze could slide over to Kenshin. His whole façade had gone stone cold. His eyes and face the cold mask of Battousai. Her eyes gleamed with unshed tears as the two officers took her by the wrists and tied them behind her back.

She wouldn't cry in front of him again. Even though she wanted to, she still had a deep sense of pride she couldn't shake anymore. Cat woman was thoroughly apart of her. She dropped her head again and stumbled backwards as the men led her to the police carriage in the street. The neighbors all stopped walking, their heads turning to one another and gossiping at once, as Kaoru was slowly put into the carriage and the door was shut on her. She felt a tear slid down her cheek, once she was out of sight from Kenshin and Saitō.

"Take her to the precinct."

* * *

Kaoru sat in the cold room, used for interrogating the criminals and other murders that Japan had cast out of society. It had been a couple of hours since she was brought into the precinct. They had quickly led her back here upon entering the building. They had past the young officer, Shinichi-san, on the way; the man only gaped in astonishment when he realized she was under arrest.

She had been sitting there for a couple of hours now. The chief came in earlier, questioning her about the two murders and what her motive was. When he got no response from her, he quickly left and Saitō took his place. His questions were harsher and less emotional then the chief's but Kaoru remained silent through the whole thing.

She knew that she should try and tell them the truth but knew that it would serve no good. They wouldn't even begin to understand what had happened to her, she barely did herself the first time she read that letter. As for Akori and her schemes, she didn't know how to even begin explaining that. She wasn't politically active and she didn't know all the information. After an hour without eliciting any emotion or answer from Kaoru, Saitō gave out an explicit word and left the room.

That had been a couple of hours ago and she now stared out the desolate gray room. The droll room had been made out of the foreign rock stone they now insisted on making buildings out of. She felt the anger and frustration bubble up from earlier. She had trusted Nomane-san to lead justice. That trust just led to the demise of Neko-onna. She had been foolishly led on and her pride hadn't let her see past her competitor, Roku-san. He had been a rude, sexist man but she realized that he would never have killed her.

Her thoughts wandered back to Kenshin at the porch. His emotionless face had been burned into her memory. His eyes had still held uncertainty but the famed features of Battousai had taken the place of her kind rurouni. That look was to stick fear into his enemies. She can only imagine she **was** an enemy now, in Kenshin's eyes.

Tears started to pour from her face again at the thought of never hearing Kenshin again. She had tried to remain calm thorough her ride to the police station, but it ended up being hell. By the time they reached their destination, her eyes where red and puffy from sobbing and her nose had run out, getting all over her face. With her hands tied behind her, she wasn't able to wipe any of it away.

What was even worse was they never let her clean up before untying her in the cell. She had frantically tried to rub it all away with the coarse material of the Kimono, rubbing her face raw and chapped. The new tears stung her face and she tried to smooth them away with her hands.

She heard the door open and let out a soft hiccup as she tried to stop the flow of any more tears. She felt the pride catch the emotions and she slowly became silently again. She put a hand up to hide her face to hide her self and listened as the man came up to her side. She saw a small hand slide a handkerchief in her direction then stood silently, waiting for her to clean up. She let out a harsh thanks and dabbed her face gently.

After she was done she moved the hair out of her face and looked up, surprised to see Kenshin standing in front of her. He watched her intently before sitting across from her in the other seat. She watched his face just as intently. The mask of Battousai was gone, his whole demeanor showing grief and anger.

"Saitō asked me to take his place in questioning you. He believes that you will talk to me where you won't with them." Kenshin said, watching as Kaoru's face switched to from confusion to unease. "I really don't want to play games, Kaoru. I want to know everything that has been happening since I have been gone from the dojo."

Kaoru sat there unsteadily, gazing at Kenshin sadly. She shook her head and turned her head to the side. "You wouldn't understand, Kenshin. Neither would Saitō or Chief Uramura."

"Just tell me. Whatever happened to you, we can figure this out together. You haven't been the same since the attack you had. And you can't deny it, it's not just your attitude but your ki itself has changed drastically." He sat there and waited for Kaoru to deny it. He wouldn't put it past her, the new ki was even stronger then before.

"All right Kenshin. I tell you everything." Kenshin face went slack. She started to explain the events that enfolded. The day she met Akori-san and when she went to return the letter that led to the attack. She told him about the deception that woman was playing. She left out her death, knowing that Kenshin wouldn't believe a word of her story if she told him. "That student must have been another one of her messengers. He must have wanted to stop her plans and she killed him. Her husband, Roku, found out and she killed him too."

"You have to believe me Kenshin. I would never kill anyone, no matter how mad I was. You have to believe me!"

"I can't read you at all. And the evidence, all the evidence points to you. We can't…"

"Forget the evidence Kenshin!" Kaoru slammed her hands on the table and Kenshin sat back. "Do you remember the day you stayed at my house? The first bath you heated for me, when Suzume-chan told you I was crying, you immediately thought I was suicidal. All the evidence you had gathered in those short hours led you to believe I had given up all hope."

"That was different."

"No it wasn't Kenshin! Then, and now, you listened to brain instead of your heart and reacted wrongly. You have to trust me Kenshin; I'm not the enemy here."

"I don't know if I can trust you, Kaoru. I don't know you anymore."

"I am the same girl that has been with you for the past year. I just have more confidence in myself." Kenshin shook his head and stood up in impatience, not wanting to be in the room anymore. Tears slipped out of Kaoru's eyes, down her cheek. "Please, believe me?"

"I can't. I'm sorry." He walked past Kaoru and left the room. He heard Kaoru start to cry again and looked at the floor as he closed the heavy cell door and locked it.

* * *

The police officer led her quickly to a wooden cell at the end of the hall, roughly threw her in and closed the wooden barred door. He banged on the door to get her to step away. "Be a good little kitty now."

Kaoru gave out a coarse cry, sounding as a hiss, and the officer backed away and walked off in a hurry. She quickly went to the back of the cell, hitting the wall with her back and sliding down to sit down. She looked up at the now night sky through her window and gave out a sigh. She should have known Kenshin wouldn't believe her. The evidence was pretty solid against her.

She hears a soft meow and looked back up to the window. The Egyptain Mau was standing right outside her window, its head tipping to the side as it watched her curl up in a ball. She watched as it then started pushing its body through the tight and narrow bars of the tiny window. After it finally got through, it jumped down to where Kaoru sat, staring at the cat as if it was a miracle.

"_You are special; no bonds or limits in your society are put on you. Live freely and be who you are, and you will not be caged by any matter…_"The letter that Katsu gave her came back in to her mind as she stroked the cat's fur. She looked back out of the wind, thinking at how the cat got in the cell. She then looked over to her own cell door. She was skinny enough if she sucked it in a bit.

Stood up and walked over to the door. She was tired of being confined to one title, one place and now in this cell, she thought it was about time she changed that. This wasn't about her anymore but the rest of the country as well. If Akori went through with her plans, Japan would be vulnerable to the stronger countries out there.

"Well, kitty, it would have been much easier if you had just gotten the key from down the hall but I guess I'll just have to make do." She slid her arm through the bars then quickly struggled with her shoulder, then her face and chest came next, then the last shoulder popped out and she slid gracefully away from the door with a proud look on her face. "Nothing can keep me caged. Not again."

She ran quietly to the edge of the hallway and then peered around it. After seeing no one there, she ran to a window that was looking out the back on the police precinct. The cells where held on the second floor of the building and the jump was pretty high. After watching a police officer walk by below, she quickly turned her head to the sound of voices coming from the second hall. With quick agility, she pushed herself of the ledge. Her body twisted in the air until she landed noiselessly on the dirt path on her feet and hands.

"Sorry Kenshin, but you just aren't worth the country at this point."


End file.
